Composture
//kəmˈpɒst͡ʃə// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Compost, composted manure. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief, That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen From general excrement, each thing's a thief."
- 2 Composition, makeup, formation. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 3 A kind of plaster. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Example
More examples"The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief, That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen From general excrement, each thing's a thief."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French composture (“compost”), from late Old French composture, possibly from Latin compositūra, compostūra (“composition”); equivalent to compost + -ure. Compare Portuguese compostura, Spanish compostura.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.