Compositional Meaning
/ˌkɒm.pəˈzɪ.ʃən.əl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf or relating to composition.
adjBeing the sum of its parts.
Sentence Examples
The compositional aspects of this work are less than ideal.
The phrase "sum of its parts" is entirely compositional.
The artist experimented with different compositional techniques in his paintings.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The teacher explained the ____ structure of the poem to the curious students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The painting shows a brilliant and dramatic ____ balance of light and dark.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English composition Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English compositional From composition + -al.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"A wet súit meaning a suit that is wet is a compositional phrase; a wét suit meaning a garment worn by skin divers is a compound."
— 1979, Edward S. Klima, Ursula Bellugi, The Signs of Language, page 202:
"We have already noted that compounds tend to have meanings that are not entirely compositional and would therefore need to be listed."
— 2003, Jean Boase-Beier, Ken R. Lodge, The German Language: A Linguistic Introduction, page 153:
"Sentence meaning is compositional because, to a large extent, it depends on a combination of the meanings of sentence constituents, which implies the concept of semantic structure."
— 2004, Sergei Nirenburg, Victor Raskin, Ontological Semantics, page 106:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The teacher explained the ____ structure of the poem to the curious students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The painting shows a brilliant and dramatic ____ balance of light and dark.