compositor:

(also ‘typographer‘ and in short ‘comp’; plural: ‘compositors‘; pronunciation: the letter ‘c’ is said with a ‘k’ sound as in “king”; please pay attention to pronunciation of the letters ‘po’ which rhyme with the letters ‘po’ in “pot” or with the letters ‘po’ in “popcorn”)

an old fashioned compositor/typesetter

a person who arranges words, sentences, pages, etc. for printing;

a person who sets written text into type-setting for printing;

(‘type’ in this context is a piece of wooden or metal block on which a symbol or letter of alphabet is engraved, and also all these pieces taken as a set)

a typesetter,

a digital compositor

e.g.

Nelson is a compositor who works at the new printing press in our locality.

Most compositors start their careers as apprentice compositors and only after years of practice do they become full-fledged compositors.

The modern day compositors, called digital compositors, do not work in sultry printing presses; instead they work in the comfort of an office, setting and designing the texts or images on computers.

In the past, there were very few female compositors composing in the printer’s workshops, but now there are more and more females opting for the compositor career as the printing technology advanced greatly and most of the manual labour is done by the machines or not needed to be done at all.

printer's type

For an article/advertisement about a compositor’s job in a printing press, please click here, and for an informative article on ‘digital compositor’, please click here. For a very interesting and informative article on the brief history of a renowned printer and his printing press of the past in the States, please click here.
Note: ‘Compositor’ is, less commonly, used to refer to a music composer. And please click here for a sample article that shows how ‘compositor’ is used in music world.

If directed from Words Often Confused, back to “composer ~ compositor“.

About the Author:BC Kumar

BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language. Disclaimer: This is a free educational website and all content has been compiled by the author. All copyrights to images and videos belong to their respective owners.

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