Compromised

How to spell compromised

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce compromised

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does compromised mean?

1. adjectiveMade vulnerable, weakened, or exposed to risk, especially regarding security or integrity.
2. verbSettled a dispute by mutual concession, or undermined and endangered something.

Compromised in a sentence

• adjective

  The bank warned that thousands of accounts had been compromised in the breach.

• verb

  The two managers compromised on a budget that satisfied neither side fully.

• adjective

  A compromised immune system leaves patients open to infection.

• verb

  The leaked memo compromised the firm's negotiating position.

Where does compromised come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin compromittere, meaning 'to make a mutual promise to abide by an arbiter's decision', built from com- 'together' and promittere 'to promise' (itself from pro- 'forth' and mittere 'to send'). It came into English in the 1400s through Old French compromis, originally describing a binding agreement to settle a dispute by arbitration. From the idea of both sides giving ground emerged the everyday sense of reaching a middle position by concession. By the nineteenth century a darker sense had grown: to compromise something was to expose it to danger, suspicion, or discredit, as when a secret or a person's safety is laid open. The hidden mittere root also survives in 'mission', 'transmit', and 'promise' itself, and the silent middle 'o' (com-PRO-mised) is the schwa that catches writers out.

How the word is built

• com- (together)
• promise (from Latin promittere: to send forth, pledge)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)