Comprise

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Introduction

The word "comprise" deals with the relationship between a whole and its parts, but it is used commonly with two opposite meanings, "to consist of" and "to constitute," as shown in the following examples (along with a significant variant of each major sense):

• 1a. A standard deck comprises 52 cards. ("consists of," "is composed of")
• 1b. A standard deck comprises four aces. (variant — "includes")
• 2a. Fifty-two cards comprise a standard deck. ("constitute")
• 2b. A standard deck is comprised of 52 cards. (passive variant —"is constituted of," i.e. "consists of," "is composed of")

Recommendation

It is recommended that drafters not use the verb "comprise."

Instead, for meaning 1a, the Committee recommends "consist of" or "is composed of"; for meaning 1b., it recommends "include."

For meaning 2a., the Committee recommends "constitute"; for form 2b., which is meaning 2a. in the passive voice, it recommends "consist of" or "is composed of," as "is constituted of" does not appear in Acts or regulations.

("Comprise" is also used sometimes in Acts and regulations to mean "contain"; see the tables of examples below for the recommended versions.)

Discussion

It appears that the English language is changing with regard to the meaning of "comprise," with the once non-standard "constitute" meaning becoming more and more common. It is undesirable for a word to be used in legislation when there is a lack of consensus about its meaning, for the following reasons.

First, there is the possibility of ambiguity, particularly between the "consist of" and "include" meanings: the use of "comprise" to mean "include" in some cases may raise the question for other cases, at least theoretically, whether parts mentioned are an exhaustive listing or only an inexhaustive one.

Second, it goes against principles of readability to use a word that is used differently by different people.

Third, the use of the "constitute" meaning, while common both in Acts and regulations and in the language at large, might still be criticized by some readers as non-standard English. The "include" meaning might also be criticized by some.

Despite these criticisms, usage guides are not in fact uniform in their advice about how acceptable these forms are (see Sources at the end of this article).

If any generalizations may be drawn from the guides cited under Sources, they are that Canadian sources seem to be more favourable than British ones toward the "include" meaning, and that the Oxford dictionaries are more tolerant of the "constitute" meaning than the other sources are. Nonetheless, the lack of consensus among usage guides and dictionaries about what is acceptable is itself evidence that this word is in a state of flux.

It may be that "comprise" is displacing the active form of the verb "compose": although "compose" is very common in the passive voice ("a deck is composed of 52 cards"), and although "compose" is held up by the usage guides as the correct alternative to the "constitute" meaning of "comprise," it is quite rare to encounter it in the active voice ("52 cards compose a deck"), while this meaning of "comprise" is very common ("52 cards comprise a deck"). This is true not only in the language at large but in Acts and regulations as well - the passive "composed of" is used more than 250 times there but the active "compose" less than 20 (and that in very limited contexts), while "comprise" is used about 100 times with this meaning.

The Branch's former Legislation Deskbook used to require drafters to observe differences between "comprise," "compose/constitute" and "include," and indeed most of the occurrences of "comprise" in Acts and regulations do comply with these notes. Nonetheless, as noted, there are a substantial number of cases in which "comprise" is used in one of the ways that the drafting notes warn against.

Examples

The examples on the following pages show how "comprise" can be replaced depending on the sense in which it is used, along with examples of actual provisions that use the wording that is recommended here.

Meaning 1a : Consist of / composed of

Original Version	Revised Versions and Other Examples
The civilian population comprises all persons who are civilians.	The civilian population consists of all persons who are civilians.
Geneva Conventions Act, Schedule V, Article 50, s. 2	The civilian population is composed of all persons who are civilians. The park is composed of four types of zones:…
in the case of a test group comprising children…	in the case of a test group consisting of children…in the case of a test group composed of children…
Food and Drug Regulations, s. C.01.001(2)(a)(i)
	in the case of earnings from a catch consisting of cured fish... in the case of a partnership composed of individuals… in the case of individuals who form the partnership

Meaning 2a : Constitute

Original Version	Revised Versions and Other Examples
"complement" means the persons, including the master, who comprise the crew of a ship.	…the persons…who constitute the crew of a ship.
Crewing Regulations, s. 1(1)	means the crew of the ship including the master
…the decision of a majority of those comprising the board is the decision of the board…	…a majority of those constituting the board…
Canada Labour Code, s. 62

Meaning 2b : Constitute - "comprised of" form

Original Version	Revised Versions and Other Examples
The Bank has a Board of Directors comprised of the Chairperson, the President, and not fewer than three, but no more than thirteen, other directors.	…a Board of Directors composed of… …a Board of Directors consisting of…
Business Development Bank of Canada Act, s. 5(1)	The Bank shall be under the management of a Board of Directors composed of a Governor, a Deputy Governor and twelve directors… There shall be an Executive Committee of the Board consisting of the Governor, the Deputy Governor and not less than two or more than four directors…

Meaning 1b : Include

Original Version	Revised Versions and Other Examples
59. (1) A goods and services tax credit payment is not comprised in the property of the bankrupt…if a dividend is available to the creditors without taking that payment into account.	A goods and services tax credit payment is not included in the property of the bankrupt…
Bankruptcy and Insolvency General Rules
the term "Denmark" … does not comprise the Faroe Islands and Greenland;	the term "Denmark" … does not include the Faroe Islands and Greenland;
Income Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 1997, Schedule 5, Article 3, s. 1(a)(ii)

Further Meaning: Contain

Original Version	Revised Versions and Other Examples
the details comprised in the surveyor's certificate;	the details contained in the surveyor's certificate;
Canada Shipping Act, s. 17(1)(b)
Every one who… (d) …, not being an occupant of a dwelling-house comprised in a particular building or structure,…	…a dwelling-house that forms part of a particular building or structure…
Criminal Code, s. 175(1)
(a) the area comprised within 500 m of a production installation…	…the area within 500 m of a production installation…
Newfoundland Offshore Area Petroleum Production and Conservation Regulations, s. 2(1), defn. of "safety zone"	…the area that is within 500 m of a production installation… the area that is within 8 m of the location where the work is carried out…

Sources (chronological order)

• Fowler's Modern English Usage (2^nd ed., 1965, UK)
  Disapproves of using comprise to mean either constitute or include (pp. 102, 275).

• The Longman Guide to English Usage (1988, UK)
  Describes it as an "error" to use comprise to mean constitute, including is comprised of; disapproves of include meaning (pp. 157-8).

• Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (1993, US)
  Defines comprise as "1: to include…CONTAIN…5a: to consist of : be made up of…b: to make up : CONSTITUTE…"

• The Gregg Reference Manual (1995, Canada)
  Defines comprise as "to include, contain, consist of", and disapproves of the constitute meaning, including is comprised of (p. 258).

• The Canadian Style (1997, Canada)
  Disapproves of the constitute meaning, and tells the reader to avoid is comprised of. Its position on include is a bit weaker than Fowler's or the Longman's, merely saying that include implies part of a whole, while comprise implies all of the whole (our emphasis) (pp. 228, 234).

• The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1998, Canada)
  Defines comprise as "1 include… 2 consist of, be composed of… 3 make up, compose [i.e. constitute]…" It notes that instances of the constitute meaning, including is comprised of, "have traditionally been criticized and are still strongly opposed by some…The disputed uses are very common, however, and considered unobjectionable by many."

• Uses comprise both ways in other definitions (e.g. consist of: "New England: and area…of the US, comprising [six states]"; constitute "six counties: the Ulster counties…which since 1920 have comprised the province of Northern Ireland").

• The New Fowler's Modern English Usage (1998, UK)
  Disapproves of the include meaning. Lists examples of constitute meaning under "disputed or erroneous uses," but says "It cannot be denied, however, that the sheer frequency of this construction seems likely to take it out of the disputed area before long"; and for is comprised of in particular, "Opposition to [it] is also weakening" (p. 168). Comprise "seems to be prevailing in its battle with compose" (p. 387).

• The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998, UK)
  Gives "consist of; be made up of" as the core sense of comprise, but also gives "make up; constitute" as a subsense, and states that instances of is comprised of "are common and are fast becoming part of standard English." Its position on include is very similar to that of The Canadian Style.

• Uses comprise both ways in other definitions (e.g. consist of: "Yugoslavia: …comprised Serbia, Montenegro, and [other territories]"; constitute: "Serbia: …Serbia and Montenegro now comprise Yugoslavia").

• The Gage Canadian Dictionary (2000, Canada)
  Disapproves of the constitute meaning and calls is comprised of "incorrect". Its definition of comprise includes include and vice-versa, the definition of include being followed by a usage note that gives comprise as a synonym but explains the difference in "emphasis" of the two words as to whether parts mentioned are listed completely or incompletely.

• Despite disapproving of the constitute meaning, uses comprise both ways in other definitions (e.g. consist of: "snapping turtle: any of a family (Chelydridae, comprising two species) of large…turtles…"; constitute: "beaver: either of two species comprising a family (Castoridae) of large rodents…").

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