comprise

tr.v., -prised, -pris·ing, -pris·es.

1. To consist of; be composed of: "The French got ... French Equatorial Africa, comprising several territories" (Alex Shoumatoff).
2. To include; contain: "The word 'politics' ... comprises, in itself, a difficult study of no inconsiderable magnitude" (Charles Dickens). See synonyms at include.
3. Usage Problem. To compose; constitute: "Put together the slaughterhouses, the steel mills, the freight yards ... that comprised the city" (Saul Bellow).

[Middle English comprisen, from Old French compris, past participle of comprendre, to include, from Latin comprehendere, comprēndere. See comprehend.]

comprisable com·pris'a·ble adj.

USAGE NOTE   The traditional rule states that the whole comprises the parts and the parts compose the whole. In strict usage: The Union comprises 50 states. Fifty states composemake up) the Union. Even though careful writers often maintain this distinction, comprise is increasingly used in place of compose, especially in the passive: The Union is comprised of 50 states. Our surveys show that opposition to this usage is abating. In the 1960s, 53 percent of the Usage Panel found this usage unacceptable; in 1996, only 35 percent objected. See Usage Notes at include.

verb

To have as a part: comprehend, contain, embody, embrace, encompass, have, include, involve, subsume, take in. See include/exclude.

v

Definition: make up, consist of
Antonyms: except, exclude, fail, fall short, lack, need, want

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

To embrace, cover, or include; to confine within; to consist of.

In the law governing patents — grants of an exclusive right or privilege to make, use, or sell an invention or product for a term of years— the term comprise indicates inclusion rather than limitation. When a patent claim states that a particular product is comprised of certain elements, this means that other elements may also be present.

As used in the devise of land, comprise means to contain or embrace. A plot of land may be comprised of a certain number of acres.

IN BRIEF: To consist of.

Did you know that bats comprise almost one quarter of all known mammal species?

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - omfatte, indeholde, udgøre

Nederlands (Dutch)
bevatten, bestaan uit

Français (French)
v. tr. - comprendre, contenir, composer, constituer

Deutsch (German)
v. - bestehen aus, umfassen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - περιλαμβάνω, αποτελούμαι από

Italiano (Italian)
comprendere, costituire

Português (Portuguese)
v. - compreender, constar de, condensar

Русский (Russian)
включать в себя, состоять из

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - comprender, constar de

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - omfatta, inbegripa

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
包含, 构成

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 包含, 構成

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 함유하다, 의미하다, 전체를 형성하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - …から成る, 構成する, 含む

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) ضم, شمل, تضمن, احتوى على‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮כלל, היה מורכב מ-‬

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