composture
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kəmˈpɒst͡ʃə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /kəmˈpɑst͡ʃɚ/
Noun
[edit]composture (countable and uncountable, plural compostures) (obsolete)
- Compost, composted manure.
- 1607, Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act 4 Scene 3:
- 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.
- Composition, makeup, formation.
- A kind of plaster.
References
[edit]- James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Composture”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 738, column 2.
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