'composite' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'compositus', where 'com-' meant 'together' and 'ponere' (in the past participle form) meant 'to place'.

'composite' came into English via Old French or Anglo-Norman from Latin 'compositus'; Middle English adopted it as 'composite' with similar form and sense.

Initially, it meant 'put together' or 'joined together' (literal assembling), and over time evolved into the modern senses of 'made up of distinct parts' and the noun sense for 'a thing made of several parts' (including specialized senses such as composite materials and composite numbers).