Composite, n.
That which is made up of parts or compounded of several elements; composition; combination; compound. [R.]
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Composite, a.
1. Made up of distinct parts or elements; compounded; as, a composite language. Happiness, like air and water . . . is composite. Landor.
2. (Arch.)
Belonging to a certain order which is composed of the Ionic order grafted upon the Corinthian. It is called also the Roman or the Italic order, and is one of the five orders recognized by the Italian writers of the sixteenth century. See Capital.
3. (Bot.)
Belonging to the order Compositæ; bearing involucrate heads of many small florets, as the daisy, thistle, and dandelion. Composite carriage, a railroad car having compartments of different classes. [Eng.] -- Composite number (Math.), one which can be divided exactly by a number exceeding unity, as 6 by 2 or 3.prime number. -- Composite photograph or portrait, one made by a combination, or blending, of several distinct photographs. F. Galton. -- Composite sailing (Naut.), a combination of parallel and great circle sailing. -- Composite ship, one with a wooden casing and iron frame.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for composite; he lists it under complex.
Where he writes about it:
In a composite object the different parts have less of unity than in that which is complex or compound, but maintain their distinct individuality. — from complex
We speak of an abstruse statement, a complex conception, a confused heap, a heterogeneous mass, a tangled skein, an intricate problem; of composite architecture, an involved sentence; of the complicated or intricate accounts of a great business, the entangled accounts of an incompetent or dishonest bookkeeper. — from complex