What does comprizing mean?
Comprizing is the present participle of the verb comprize, an older spelling of comprise meaning to consist of, contain, or be made up of particular parts. In practice, saying something 'is comprized of' certain elements is equivalent to saying it comprises them: a kingdom comprizing several provinces, an estate comprizing a house and its lands. The form is now archaic, appearing chiefly in historical legal instruments, deeds, treaties, and older printed works rather than in contemporary prose. Modern English overwhelmingly uses the standard spelling comprising, and style guides treat comprize and comprizing as obsolete variants best left intact only when quoting period sources. The word descends from the Latin comprehendere through Old French comprendre, sharing deep roots with words like comprehension and comprehensive.
verb (present participle)A chiefly historical variant spelling of 'comprising': to consist of or be made up of specified parts; to include or contain within a larger whole.
- To consist of or be made up of specified parts (variant of 'comprising')
- To include or contain within a larger whole (variant of 'comprising')
"The treaty's comprizing clauses were drafted in the archaic legal style of the eighteenth century."
"The estate was described in the deed as comprizing the house, two fields, and the adjoining orchard."
"Older legal texts often speak of territories comprizing several provinces under one crown."
That '-izing' ending isn't a typo for 'comprising' — it's the older spelling, still frozen into centuries-old legal documents and land deeds.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of comprizing
The word derives ultimately from Latin comprehendere, meaning 'to grasp or seize together', which passed into Old French as comprendre before entering Middle French as compris, past participle of comprendre. English adopted it as comprise in the early modern period, and the spellings comprize and comprizing reflect the era's variable orthography, when -ise and -ize endings were used interchangeably. Cognates include French comprendre and Spanish comprender.
Related word forms
How comprizing is actually used
This spelling is archaic; modern writing uses 'comprising'. It survives mainly in historical documents, legal records, and scholarly quotations, where it should generally be preserved as written rather than silently modernized.
Easily confused with comprizing
'Comprising' means consisting of parts that make up a whole, while 'composing' means creating or putting together something such as music or writing.
'Comprising' means including or consisting of parts; 'compromising' means exposing something to danger or settling a dispute by mutual concession.