Compound

How to spell compound

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce compound

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does compound mean?

1. nounA substance or thing formed by combining two or more separate parts or elements.
2. verbTo make something greater or more intense, or to combine elements into a whole.
3. adjectiveMade up of two or more separate elements or parts.
4. nounAn enclosed area containing a group of buildings, often surrounded by a wall or fence.

Compound in a sentence

• noun

  Water is a chemical compound of hydrogen and oxygen.

• verb

  Late payment will only compound the debt you already owe.

• adjective

  An insect has a compound eye built from many tiny lenses.

• noun

  The diplomats lived inside a guarded embassy compound.

• noun

  The cleaning product is a compound of several mild acids.

• verb

  Poor planning can compound the problems on a building site.

Where does compound come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The combining sense of compound comes from the Latin componere, which meant literally 'to put together', formed from com- 'together' and ponere 'to put or place'. English took it in the late 1300s through the Old French verb compondre, and the unexpected final d crept in during Middle English by analogy with other verbs that ended that way, which is why we now write compound rather than compoun. The same ponere root sits inside a whole family of English words, including component, compose, deposit and opponent, all sharing the idea of placing or putting. There is also a quite separate compound meaning an enclosed yard or group of buildings; that one is not Latin at all but came in the 1600s from the Malay word kampung, meaning a village or enclosure, reshaped by English speakers to look like the familiar word. Knowing that the core sense is about putting parts together is the clearest way to remember the spelling, since the pound part has nothing to do with weight or money.

How the word is built

• com- (together)
• -pound (from Latin ponere: to put, place)