composture

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UK/kəmˈpɒst͡ʃə/US/kəmˈpɑst͡ʃɚ/

noun

Compost, composted manure.

OriginMiddle French composture ← Old French composture ← Latin compositūra →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nouncomposture (countable and uncountable, plural compostures)

plural compostures

  1. countableobsoleteuncountableCompost, composted manure.

    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.

    1607, Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act 4 Scene 3
  2. countableobsoleteuncountableComposition, makeup, formation.
  3. countableobsoleteuncountableA kind of plaster.

Origin

  1. Latincompositūra
  2. Old Frenchcomposture
  3. Middle Frenchcomposture“compost”
  4. Englishcomposture

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.

More words from Middle French, Old French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

composture. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/composture

MLA

“composture.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/composture. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “composture,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/composture.

Source: composture on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.