comprise

comprise — verb

1. when something comprises several items, members, or ingredients, those are the p

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

when something comprises several items, members, or ingredients, those are the pieces it is built from or made of — for instance, a committee that comprises five members is formed by those five people together.

Example

The book comprises twelve chapters, each focusing on a different historical period.

comprise + number of parts

The research committee comprised five professors from three different universities.

Common collocations
  • comprise + number/quantity
  • comprise + list of parts
  • comprise + members/parts/elements/sections
Synonyms
  • consist of

    most common everyday alternative; requires the preposition 'of'

  • be composed of

    similar formality to 'comprise'; often interchangeable

  • contain

    broader meaning — can include non-essential items; less precise

  • include

    suggests a partial rather than complete list of parts

Antonyms
  • exclude

    opposite meaning — to leave out rather than include

Grammar Patterns

comprise + noun phrase

Usage Note

Not used in progressive forms (❌ 'is comprising'). This is the more common sense — it describes the whole containing the parts. The structure is 'whole comprises parts' with no preposition.

Common Mistakes

The book is comprising twelve chapters.
The book comprises twelve chapters.
'comprise' is a stative verb and never takes a progressive form.
The team comprises of five members.
The team comprises five members.
'comprise' takes a direct object without 'of'. The phrase 'consist of' requires 'of', but 'comprise' does not.

2. when several separate people, things, or groups comprise a larger thing, they ar

2.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

when several separate people, things, or groups comprise a larger thing, they are the pieces that together create it — for instance, twelve players comprise a football team, meaning each player is one of the parts that makes the team whole.

Example

Twelve players comprise a standard volleyball team, with six on each side of the court.

parts as subject, whole as object

Caio noted that three main ingredients comprise the traditional sauce his grandmother makes.

Common collocations
  • [number] + comprise + whole
  • [plural group] + comprise + [singular whole]
Synonyms
  • constitute

    same formality; more common in formal and legal writing

  • make up

    informal everyday alternative; very common in speech

  • form

    neutral register; less formal than 'comprise' but more common than 'constitute'

Grammar Patterns

plural noun phrase + comprise + singular noun phrase

Usage Note

Less common than sense 1 (CONSIST OF). The subject must be plural or a collective noun referring to multiple parts. The object is the single whole those parts form. Some style guides prefer 'constitute' or 'make up' in this sense to avoid confusion.

Common Mistakes

The team comprises twelve players' (when the intended meaning is 'the parts form the team', not 'the team contains the parts').
Twelve players comprise the team.
With sense 2, the parts must be the grammatical subject. If you mean the whole contains the parts, use sense 1 instead.
Twelve players are comprising the team.
Twelve players comprise the team.
Like sense 1, this sense never takes a progressive form.

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

COMPRISE, CONSIST OF, CONTAIN, INCLUDE, BE COMPOSED OF and BE MADE UP OF all describe parts in relation to a whole, but differ in formality, structure, and completeness. COMPRISE is formal and takes a direct object with no preposition: 'the team comprises twelve players.' CONSIST OF is the most common everyday choice but requires 'of': 'the team consists of twelve players.' CONTAIN is broader — it can include non-essential elements ('the box contains old letters'), whereas COMPRISE implies all essential parts are listed. INCLUDE suggests a partial list only ('the price includes breakfast'), while COMPRISE implies a complete list. BE COMPOSED OF matches COMPRISE in formality ('the team is composed of twelve players'). BE MADE UP OF is the most informal option, common in spoken English ('the team is made up of twelve players'). Choose CONSIST OF or BE MADE UP OF for everyday writing, and COMPRISE or BE COMPOSED OF for formal documents.

consist ofcontain ↗include ↗be composed ofbe made up of

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Borrowed into Middle English from Old French 'comprendre', which came from Latin 'comprehendere' — formed from 'com-' (together) and 'prehendere' (to seize, grasp). The original Latin sense was mental: 'to grasp with the mind, to understand.' It then broadened to 'to include, contain.' The unusual feature of 'comprise' — that it can mean both 'consist of' (the whole contains the parts) and 'make up' (the parts form the whole) — appeared in English by the 1600s and has been debated by style commentators ever since.