This is a word descibing both very old and very new technology. Primitive men built shelters
with poles and skins, wattle and daub walls, bricks with straw. I remember wondering why the
Israelites complained that they could not make bricks without straw. I had no idea it meant
clay mixed with straw, and merely dried in the sun. Now we have fiberglass, kevlar and space
thechnoology things I don't know anything about. I forgot to mention stucco, which is commonly
spread over wire mesh.. Fifty years ago, fairly large ships were built of concrete with wire mesh
embedded. Maybe you can think of something to add.In another thread I found a site which said
jade is a composite. That's why it resists shattering, one of its most valuable properties.
Come to think of it, skin is a composite. There are strong fibrils all through it. Leather is
skin from which much of the "waterproofing" has been removed.

composite
adj.
5L compositus, pp. of componere, to put together < com3, together + ponere, to place: see POSITION6
1 formed of distinct parts; compound
2 [C3] designating or of a classical Roman order of architecture, in which the scroll-like ornaments of the Ionic capital are combined with the acanthus design of the Corinthian: see ORDER, illus.
3 Bot. designating the largest family (Asteraceae, order Asterales) of dicotyledonous plants, with flower heads composed of dense clusters of small flowers surrounded by a ring of small leaves or bracts, including the daisy, thistle, artichoke, and chrysanthemum
n.
1 a thing of distinct parts; compound; esp., any of a class of high-strength, lightweight engineering materials consisting of various combinations of alloys, plastics, and ceramics
2 Bot. a composite plant
com[pos4ite[ly
adv.