Sammensatte

Sammensatte is a Norwegian adjective meaning “composed of two or more parts; combined; composite.” It is used in various domains to describe things that are not simple, including numbers, words, substances, and concepts formed by joining elements.

In mathematics, sammensatte tall (composite numbers) are integers greater than 1 that are not prime; they have at least one divisor other than 1 and themselves. Equivalently, they can be written as a product of two integers greater than 1. The fundamental theorem of arithmetic states that every composite number has a unique prime factorization, up to the order of the factors. The number 1 is neither prime nor composite.

In linguistics, sammensatte ord or compound words are formed by combining two or more stems. Norwegian commonly writes compounds as single words, such as solbriller (sunglasses), hovedstad (capital city), and julegave (Christmas gift). Some compounds may be hyphenated or spaced to aid readability or in new word formations.

In chemistry and materials science, sammensatte refer to chemical compounds—substances composed of two or more elements chemically bonded. Water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are classic examples.

The term reflects the concept of unity through combination and is used across disciplines to distinguish complex constructs from simple, indivisible units.