Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
comprise, compose, consist, constitute, include (vv.)
Of these, comprise offers the only truly vexed usage issue: commentators have strongly objected to both the X is comprised of Y and Z and Y and Z comprise X constructions, insisting that only X comprises Y and Z is acceptable. The active voice use, as in Many items comprise a single whole, and the passive, as in This list is comprised of sixty items or These dishes are comprised of many ingredients, are thoroughly established in Standard English, but there are still some party lines drawn about their acceptability. Best advice: if using comprise makes you nervous and unsure, why not use one of the synonyms—constitute or compose for the active use (which receives the most criticism) and include(s) or consist(s) of for the passive? The truth is that no matter how you use this word, someone can almost always be found to object. None of the many neat schemes purporting to describe its correct use seems accurately to describe the way Standard English users actually employ comprise.
One other point: be careful to use include only of incomplete lists: A baseball team is made up of nine players. It includes a pitcher, a catcher, and four infielders. It is composed of these, plus three outfielders. (And the team comprises these nine players; they compose the team.)
