Meaning of comprise in English | Powered by Free Dictionary API

verb

• To be made up of; to consist of (especially a comprehensive list of parts).

  Example: The parts are comprised by the whole.

• To contain or embrace.

  Example: Our committee comprises a president, secretary, treasurer and five other members.

• (sometimes proscribed, usually in the passive) To compose, to constitute. See usage note below.

  Example: A team is comprised of its members.

• To include, contain, or be made up of, defining the minimum elements, whether essential or inessential, to define an invention. ("Open-ended", doesn't limit to the items listed; cf. compose, which is "closed" and limits to the items listed.)