two or more materials that refuse to blend, ganging up to beat what either could do alone.
means a material made by combining two distinct substances so the result is stronger, lighter, or tougher than either ingredient alone.
from from latin compositus, put together — humans have layered straw into mud bricks for millennia, but the modern word took off with 20th-century plastics reinforced by glass and carbon fiber.
carbon fiber — tour de france bikes and f1 chassis, strong at a fraction of steel's weight
reinforced concrete — steel rebar inside concrete, holy grail of skyscrapers since the 1850s
fiberglass — glass fibers in resin, hulls boats and bathtubs since the 1930s
plywood — wood veneers glued cross-grain, invented commercially in oregon, 1905