Compose, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Composed; p. pr. & vb. n. Composing.]
Etymology: [F. composer; com- + poser to place. The sense is that of L. componere, but the prigin is different. See Pose, v. t.]
1. To form by putting together two or more things or parts; to put together; to make up; to fashion. Zeal ought to be composed of the hidhest degrees of all pious affection. Bp. Sprat.
2. To form the substance of, or part of the substance of; to constitute. Their borrowed gold composed The calf in Oreb. Milton. A few useful things . . . compose their intellectual possessions. I. Watts.
3. To construct by mental labor; to design and execute, or put together, in a manner involving the adaptation of forms of expression to ideas, or to the laws of harmony or proportion; as, to compose a sentence, a sermon, a symphony, or a picture. Let me compose Something in verse as well as prose. Pope. The genius that composed such works as the "Standard" and "Last Supper". B. R. Haydon.
4. To dispose in proper form; to reduce to order; to put in proper state or condition; to adjust; to regulate. In a peaceful grave my corpse compose. Dryden. How in safety best we may Compose our present evils. Milton.
3 more senses
5. To free from agitation or disturbance; to tranquilize; to soothe; to calm; to quiet. Compose thy mind; Nor frauds are here contrived, nor force designed. Dryden.
6. (Print.)
To arrange (types) in a composing stick in order for printing; to set (type).
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Compose, v. i.
To come to terms. [Obs.] Shak.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for compose; he lists it under allay, make.
Where he writes about it:
Pacify, directly from the Latin, and appease, from the Latin through the French, signify to bring to peace; to mollify is to soften; to calm, quiet, or tranquilize is to make still; compose, to place together, unite, adjust to a calm and settled condition; to soothe (originally to assent to, humor) is to bring to pleased quietude. — from allay
We allay excitement, appease a tumult, calm agitation, compose our feelings or countenance, pacify the quarrelsome, quiet the boisterous or clamorous, soothe grief or distress. — from allay
To make is to cause to exist, or to cause to exist in a certain form or in certain relations; the word thus includes the idea of create, as in Gen. i, 31, "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Make includes also the idea of compose, constitute; as, the parts make up the whole. — from make