composure means calmness of mind or temperament.
composure is pronounced /kəmˈpoʊʒɚ/.
Why “composure” is a great word
Calmness of mind or manner, especially under stress. From the verb 'compose' (from Latin *componere*, 'to put together') + the suffix '-ure' (denoting action or result), first recorded in English c. 1600. Unlike equanimity, which suggests an inherent, philosophical balance, or aplomb, which implies a confident, social poise, composure is the active, often temporary, assembly of the self. It is the steadying breath taken before speaking, the deliberate smoothing of a coat front, the conscious stilling of a tremor in the hands—a fragile edifice built piece by piece against the rising tide, knowing it may crumble as soon as the need for it passes.
Etymology
From compose + -ure.
noun
- Calmness of mind or temperament.e.g.“That all may see who hate us, how we seek
Peace and composure […]” — 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished a
- The act of composing
- Something which is composed; a composition.
- Orderly adjustment; disposition.e.g.“[…] from the various Composures and Combinations of these Corpusoles together, happen all the Varieties of the Bodies formed out of them […]” — 1695, John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies, London: Richard Wilkin, Part 5, p. 230:
- Frame; make; temperament.e.g.“[…] his composure must be rare indeed
Whom these things can not blemish […]” — c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, a
- A combination; a union; a bond.e.g.“[…] their fraction is more our wish than their faction: but it was a strong composure a fool could disunite.” — c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[w
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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