com⋅pos⋅ite
[kuh
m-poz-it] 
adjective, noun, verb, -it⋅ed, -it⋅ing.
| 1. | made up of disparate or separate parts or elements; compound: a composite drawing; a composite philosophy. |
| 2. | Botany. belonging to the Compositae. Compare composite family. |
| 3. | (initial capital letter) Architecture. noting or pertaining to one of the five classical orders, popular esp. since the beginning of the Renaissance but invented by the ancient Romans, in which the Roman Ionic and Corinthian orders are combined, so that four diagonally set Ionic volutes, variously ornamented, rest upon a bell of Corinthian acanthus leaves. Compare Corinthian (def. 2), Doric (def. 3), Ionic (def. 1), Tuscan (def. 2). |
| 4. | Rocketry.
|
| 5. | Nautical. noting a vessel having frames of one material and shells and decking of another, esp. one having iron or steel frames with shells and decks planked. |
| 6. | Mathematics. of or pertaining to a composite function or a composite number. |
| 7. | something composite; a compound. |
| 8. | Botany. a composite plant. |
| 9. | a picture, photograph, or the like, that combines several separate pictures. |
| 10. | to make a composite of. |
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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| com·pos·ite
(kəm-pŏz'ĭt) Pronunciation Key
adj.
[French, from Old French, from Latin compositus, past participle of compōnere, to put together; see component.] com·pos'ite·ly adv., com·pos'ite·ness n. |
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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composite (adj.)
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| composite | |
adjective | |
| 1. | consisting of separate interconnected parts |
| 2. | of or relating to or belonging to the plant family Compositae |
noun | |
| 1. | a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts; "the complex of shopping malls, houses, and roads created a new town" [syn: complex] |
| 2. | considered the most highly evolved dicotyledonous plants, characterized by florets arranged in dense heads that resemble single flowers |
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Composite
A grouping of equities, indexes or other factors combined in a standardized way, providing a useful statistical measure of overall market or sector performance over time. Also known as a "composite index".
Investopedia Commentary
Usually, a composite index has a large number of factors which are averaged together to form a product representative of an overall market or sector. For example, the Nasdaq Composite index is a market capitalization-weighted grouping of approximately 5,000 stocks listed on the Nasdaq market. These indexes are useful tools for measuring and tracking price level changes to an entire stock market or sector. Therefore, they provide a useful benchmark against which to measure an investor's portfolio. The goal of a well diversified portfolio is usually to outperform the main composite indexes.
Related Links
Index Investing Tutorial
A Market By Any Other Name
Indexes: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
See also: CBOE Nasdaq Volatility Index - VXN, Dow Jones AIG Commodity Index (DJ-AIGCI), Goldman Sachs Commodity Index - GSCI, Index, Indexing, NYSE Composite Index, OEX, Standard and Poor's 500 Index - S&P 500, Theoretical Dow Jones Index, VIX - CBOE Volatility Index
Also spelled: Composite Index
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composite
aggregate
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Composite
Com*pos"ite\ (?; 277), a. [L. compositus made up of parts, p. p. of componere. See Compound, v. t., and cf. Compost.]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 Composit[ae]; 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. . 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.Composite
Com*pos"ite\ (?; 277), n. That which is made up of parts or compounded of several elements; composition; combination; compound. [R.]Cite This Source
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