Noun

Calmness of mind or matter, self-possession.

* Milton

We seek peace and composure .

* I. Watts

When the passions are all silent, the mind enjoys its most perfect composure .

*

“Did you want anything, ma’am?” I enquired, still preserving my external composure , in spite of her ghastly countenance and strange exaggerated manner.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=September 2 , author= , title=Wales 2-1 Montenegro , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Montenegro's early composure was shaken by that set-back and a visibly buoyed Wales nearly added a second goal when Bale broke past two defenders and fired a long-range shot that Bozovic tipped over}}

* {{quote-book

, year=1798 , author=Giacomo Casanova , title=The memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt , chapter=92 citation , passage=He began to lose his composure , and made mistakes, his cards got mixed up, and his scoring was wild.}}

(obsolete) The act of composing, or that which is composed; a composition.

* Evelyn

Signor Pietro, who had an admirable way both of composure [in music] and teaching.

(obsolete) Orderly adjustment; disposition.

* Woodward

Various composures and combinations of these corpuscles.

(obsolete) frame; make; temperament

* Shakespeare

His composure must be rare indeed / Whom these things can not blemish.

(obsolete) A combination; a union; a bond.

(Shakespeare)

(Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)

Mental or emotional strength that enables courage in the face of adversity.

* 1612 , , King Henry VIII , act 3, sc. 2:

. . . I am able now, methinks,

Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,

To endure more miseries.

* , ch. 1:

I shall soon have need for all my fortitude , as I am on the point of separation from my own daughter.

* 1906 , , The Mirror of the Sea , ch. 21:

She may be saved by your efforts, by your resource and fortitude bearing up against the heavy weight of guilt and failure.

* 2012 Jan. 30, , " The Strategist," Time :

Mitt Romney . . . charges that Obama is an appeaser who apologizes for America, lacks fortitude and is "tentative, indecisive, timid and nuanced."

(archaic) Physical strength.

* 1604 , , Othello , act 1, sc. 3:

DUKE OF VENICE: The Turk with a most mighty preparation makes for

Cyprus. Othello, the fortitude of the place is best

known to you.