Ensemble labels a connective that relates two things (typically entities) to indicate that they form a general semantic grouping of some kind. In this grouping, they are on roughly equal footing—neither is a part, member, possession, location, or containing event for the other—though one may be presented as slightly more prominent in the discourse.

Ensemble relations in English are prototypically expressed with conjunctions like and, but may also be construed via Ancillary adpositions:

• Ensemble↝Ancillary:

  • rice with/without beans (= served or mixed together) 001

  • A smile with a nod was his answer. 002

  • Do these shoes go with this outfit? [cf. Ancillary#031] 003

Versus Ancillary#

Ensemble is used for a relation directly between entities, whereas Ancillary describes a relation of an entity to an event/situation.