Comprised of

Comprised of is an expression in English that means "composed of".^[1] This is thought by language purists to be improper because to "comprise" (without the "of") can already mean to "be composed of". By that definition, "comprised of" would be ungrammatical as it implies "composed of of". However, another widely accepted definition of to "comprise" is to "compose", hence the commonly accepted meaning of "comprised of" as "composed of".^[2]

The subtle difference between uses in "the whole which is made up by the parts" and "the parts which makes up the whole" has led to acquiescence among many language professionals who now accept the phrases "comprised of" and "composed of" as equivalent. The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionaries regard the form comprised of as standard English usage.^[3][4][5] This is predicated on its widespread use in both writing and speech.^[6]

Despite this, there continues to be resistance to accepting the phrase "comprised of". In 2015, media outlets reported on one Wikipedia editor's efforts to expunge the phrase from any and all articles on the online encyclopedia.^[7]