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combination of the parts of any literary work or discourse, or of a work of art; as, the composition of a poem or a piece of music. "The constant habit of elaborate composition." Macaulay.

removal or alteration of some of the ingredients of a compound; disintegration; as, the decomposition of wood, rocks, etc.

Inconsistency; discordance. [Obs.] Donne.

The act of recomposing.

In church or chapel style; -- said of compositions sung in the old church style, without instrumental accompaniment; as, a mass a capella, i. e., a mass purely vocal.

letters of the alphabet; alphabetic; hence, rudimentary. Abecedarian psalms, hymns, etc., compositions in which (like the 119th psalm in Hebrew) distinct portions or verses commence with successive letters of the alphabet. Hook.

To perform an accompanying part or parts in a composition.

Possessing acres or landed property; -- used in composition; as, large-acred men.

A composition, usually in verse, in which the first or the last letters of the lines, or certain other letters, taken in order, form a name, word, phrase, or motto.

series of events, either real or imaginary, forming the subject of a play, poem, or other composition; the unfolding of the drama of events.

A "brotherhood," or collection of stamens in a bundle; -- used in composition, as in the class names, Monadelphia, Diadelphia, etc.

coalescent or clustered filaments; -- said of stamens; as, adelphous stamens. Usually in composition; as, monadelphous. Gray.

A mineral of the feldspar family, triclinic in crystallization, and in composition a silicate of alumina and soda. It is a common constituent of granite and of various igneous rocks. See Feldspar.

Of all; -- used in composition; as, alderbest, best of all, alderwisest, wisest of all. [Obs.] Chaucer.

nt of cerium. It is usually black in color, opaque, and is related to epidote in form and composition.

A variety of shale or clay slate, containing iron pyrites, the decomposition of which leads to the formation of alum, which often effloresces on the rock.

which one of its hydrogen atoms has been removed; -- called also the amido group, and in composition represented by the form amido.

A common mineral embracing many varieties varying in color and in composition. It occurs in monoclinic crystals; also massive, generally with fibrous or columnar structure. The color varies from white to gray, green, brown, and black. It is a silicate of magnesium and calcium, with usually aluminium and iron. Some comm…

uartz, calcite, and the zeolites. When the imbedded minerals are detached or removed by decomposition, it is porous, like lava.

An electro-negative element, or the element which, in electro- chemical decompositions, is evolved at the anode; -- opposed to cation. Faraday.