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Glite Dictionary
to made up of

to made up of

134 1.1
Has parts or people that form it, for example the sun and planets
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : estar compuesto por
  • My army is made up of tribes.
  • made up of people
  • largely made up of
  • groups made up of

Or, or are they themselves made-up of smaller particles still?

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Examples

  • The rest of the soil is made up of sand, silt, and clay.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Our initial patient population was made up of 69 consecutive patients who had presented to our FPC.

    Academic text (2008)

  • It's made up of four people about the same age as yourself.

    On the Edge (2001)

  • Each key element is made up of the details shown in Table 1.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The study sample was made up of 8 children aged between 6 and 12.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The cities of Europe have large immigrant populations made up of people from all parts of the world.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The European Union-funded project is made up of researchers from academic institutions across Europe and business partners.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Well, the human brain is made-up of brain cells which are called neurons.

  • I want to understand the living world, which is made-up of ecosystems.

    Harvard University

  • The team is made up of skilled professionals from various fields.

Synonyms

to consist
vsto made up of
313 2.5

To be made of parts or people

is broader naming composition by stated parts or people
to comprise
vsto made up of
122 4.4

To include parts or members

is about composition without suggesting active inclusion

Surface Forms

made up of infinitive
made up past
made up past participle
making up present participle
makes up third person singular

Morphology

made + up + of

The meaning 'consisting of' is directly derivable from combining 'made' (past participle of make) with the particle 'up' and the preposition 'of' — together they express that something is composed from listed parts. This is a common, cross-linguistic compositional pattern (be made up of ≈ 'consist of') so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will generally understand it; note that 'made up' alone can also mean 'invented', but the addition of 'of' clearly signals composition.

Etymology

Made up of gives the image of building something from parts: made shows 'created' and up shows 'together'. So when we say a cake is made up of layers, we mean it 'consists of' those parts.