Parts compose the whole, and the whole comprises the parts. Comprise means to consist of or to be composed of, and it technically does not require of or any other helper words. The phrase is comprised of has two words too many. But, whether we like it or not, comprise is rapidly becoming a synonym of compose. We could save ourselves a lot of heartache by accepting it now.
In current news sources, comprise is almost always treated as a synonym of compose. Here’s one example:
Borel also won all three races that comprise horse racing’s triple crown . . . [Examiner]
This sentence literally states that the three races are made of the triple crown, when in fact the opposite is true. Here are two possible fixes:
Borel also won all three races that constitute horse racing’s triple crown . . .
Borel also won all three races comprised by horse’ racing’s triple crown . . .
And here’s another questionable use of comprise:
This forthcoming exhibition is comprised of works by ten artists . . . [PR Log]
There are at least two possible fixes:
This forthcoming exhibition is composed of works by ten artists . . .
This forthcoming exhibition comprises works by ten artists . . .
We increasingly have to turn to editorially fastidious publications to find comprise used well in its traditional sense, and many of those publications get it wrong more often than not. This suggests that comprise‘s old meaning is dying, and compose and comprise are becoming synonyms.
Those of us who don’t like this change are free to resist the trend. But we are clearly in the minority, and we should probably just put this peeve behind us. Still, outside this post, you will never see the phrase is comprised of on this website.
And just for fun, let’s look at a few examples of comprise used well:
The development – on a site which used to comprise one large house and a tennis court – has been going on for a couple of years now . . . [Guardian]
The first is that a monetary union comprising 16 or more EU members will ultimately require a fully fledged fiscal union, or fail. [Financial Times]
The transitional government comprises members of both the ruling party and the opposition . . . [Washington Post]
