Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Compound |
CompoundAdjective1. (botany) of leaf shapes; of leaves composed of several similar parts or lobes. 2. Consisting of two or more substances or ingredients or elements or parts; "soap is a compound substance"; "housetop is a compound word"; "a blackberry is a compound fruit". 3. (zoology) composed of many distinct individuals united to form a whole or colony; "coral is a colonial organism". Noun1. (chemistry) a substance formed by chemical union of two or more elements or ingredients in definite proportion by weight. 2. A whole formed by a union of two or more elements or parts. 3. An enclosure of residences and other building (especially in the Orient). Verb1. Make more intense, stronger, or more marked; "The efforts were intensified", "Her rudeness intensified his dislike for her", "Potsmokers claim it heightens their awareness"; "This event only deepened my convictions". 2. Put or add together; "combine resources". 3. Calculate principal and interest. 4. Create by mixing or combining. 5. Combine so as to form a whole; mix; "compound the ingredients". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "compound" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Electrical Engineering | An insulating jacketing material made by mixing two or more ingredients, thereby resulting in one material. Source: European Union. (references) |
| Applied to a machine to denote that it is excited by at least two windings, one of which is a series winding. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Energy | A chemical combination of two or more elements combined in a fixed and definite proportion by weight. (references) |
Industry | Mixture of rubber materials and various chemicals to produce a rubber compound. Source: European Union. (references) |
| To mix or blend particularly in a kneader or calender. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Language | A term formed of two or more words or roots. Source: European Union. (references) |
Science | Of a perithecium, having an involucrellum. (references) |
Weather | Combination of two or more different chemical elements held together by chemical bonds. See element, inorganic compound, organic compound. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In chemistry, a compound is a substance formed from two or more elements, with a fixed ratio determining the composition. For example, water is a compound made out of hydrogen and oxygen in the ratio of two to one.
In general, this fixed ratio must be fixed due to some sort of physical property, rather than an arbitrary man-made selection. This is why materials such as brass, the superconductor YBCO, the semiconductor Aluminium gallium arsenide or chocolate are considered mixtures or alloys rather than compounds.
A defining characteristic of a compound is that it has a chemical formula. Formulas describe the ratio of numbers of atoms in a substance. For example, in H2O (water) there are two hydrogen atoms for every one oxygen atom. The formula does not tell you that water is made of molecules. Indeed water ice has the same formula, but it is in the form of a crystal - there are no molecules in ice.
Compounds may have a number of possible phases. For a compound to be a liquid or a gas and still be called a compound, atoms from the various elements must be stuck together in the form of molecules. The formation of molecules is why compounds such as C2H4 exist (rather than just CH2) - the formula is telling you not just the ratios but also how many atoms there are in each molecule.
All compounds will break up into smaller compounds or individual atoms if you heat them to a high enough temperature. This temperature is called the decomposition temperature.
Every chemical compound that has been described in the literature carries a unique numerical identifier, its CAS number.
Types of compounds:
See list of compounds for a list of all compounds currently in Wikipedia.
- acids,
- basess,
- salts,
- oxides,
- organic compounds
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Chemical compound."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
- In chemistry, a compound is a chemical combination of two or more elements. See chemical compound and list of compounds.
- In morphology a compound is a word that consists of more than one word, for example summertime.
- See compound verb
- See compound noun and adjective
- Not to be confused with a complex phrase.
- In botany, a plant with compound leaves has an array of small, symmetrically-arranged leaflets on each stem, while a plant with simple leaves has one leaf per stem.
- In economy see Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR).
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Compound."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Compound nouns and compound adjectives are grouped together as they are constructed similarly and often originate from similar sources.Compound nouns as a rule started out as adjectives or modifiers combined with nouns, such as "blackboard" originating from "black board"; "skyscraper" (sky modifying scraper - there are many types of scraper, this one metaphorically scraping the sky); "highlight" (high being adjective/modifier to light [meaning colour]); "temperance society" (temperance modifying society).
Although the left-hand (modifying) component often is an original noun, as a modifier it takes the function of an adjective for the main right-hand component.So it is with compound adjectives as they are constructed in a very similar way to the compound noun. "Blackboard jungle", "leftover ingredients", "gunmetal sheen", "green monkey disease", are only a few examples.
Compound noun
A compound noun usually consists of two or more free elements, morphemes that can stand on their own and that have their own meaning, but together form another word with a modified meaning.In English, some grammarians call the right-hand component the head. The head is the categorical part that contains the basic meaning of the whole compound and the left-hand element modifies this.
The four types of compound noun
There are four types of compound nouns in English:
- the solid or closed form in which two, usually short, words appear together as one, such as "housewife", "lawsuit", "wallpaper". etc.
- the hyphenated form in which two or more words are connected by a hyphen, such as in "mother-of-pearl", "bridge-builder", "twenty-one", etc.
- the open or spaced form consisting of newer combinations of usually longer words, such as "distance learning", "player piano", "lawn tennis", etc.
- the classical type which consists of words derived from Latin, as in "horticulture", and those of Greek origin, as in "photography", the components of which are in bound form and cannot stand alone.
Rules of thumb
The way compound nouns are combined cannot always be strictly determined, and often a good dictionary may have to be consulted, but certain rules of thumb may be of use:
Usage in the U.S. and in the UK differs and often depends on the individual choice of the writer rather than on a hard-and-fast rule, and so, open, hyphenated and closed forms may be encountered for the same compound noun, such as "container ship", "container-ship", or "containership"; "particle board", "particle-board", or "particleboard".
- Solid compounds most likely consist of short (single-syllable) units that often have been established in the language for a long time.
- Hyphenated compounds often have one component, a complex word, that has at least one or two affixes, such as "house-builder", "single-mindedness", etc.
- Open compounds usually consist of components which are not readily combinable in either solid or hyphenated forms, because they would either look strange in such a combination, or are of a recent coinage and have had not sufficient time to establish themselves in any other than open form.
Left-hand modifiers of right-hand components
The left-hand component in a compound noun is the modifier, because it modifies or limits the meaning of the right-hand component. For example, in the solid compound "footstool", "foot" limits the meaning of "stool" to that of a "stool for one's foot or feet". (It can be used for sitting on but that is not its primary purpose). A "foundation stone" is a stone, one of a type and not of any other, with which a "foundation for a building is being laid".A modifier in a compound fulfils a very similar function to that in an adjective + noun. A "black board" is any board that is black. A "blackboard", the compound, may have started out as any other "black board", but now is a thing that is constructed in a particular way, of a particular material and serves a particular purpose.
A modifier thus may indicate the purpose the noun stands for, the material of which it is made, or the way it works, is designed or constructed, as in "sand castle", "roundhouse", "workbench" or "particle-board".
Sound patterns
Another aspect, that of the sound pattern of compounds that originally started with an adjective modifier , ought to be considered. Sound patterns, such as stresses placed on particular syllables, may indicate whether the word group is a compound or whether it is an adjective + noun. A compound usually has a falling intonation such as "blackboard", the "White House", as opposed to the adjective and noun "black board", or "white house". (Note that this rule does not apply in all contexts. For example, the compound in "The White House announced a new policy today" and in comparisons the non-compound in "No, not the black house, the white house" are pronounced very similarly.)
Analyzability
Analyzability, too, is a means of arriving at the meaning of a compound word. Some, such as "lightweight" are easily analyzable, some others are less so, such as "steamboat", in which steam plays a certain role in the propulsion of the boat, but it is not clear how it does so, and thirdly those compounds that have as their components totally illogical and unanalyzable morphemes, such as "butterfly", "ladybird", "cranberry", etc. (A butterfly is neither connected to butter nor is it actually a fly).
Paraphrasing
A further aspect of compound nouns is that of the meaning being arrived at by paraphrasing the two morphemes through prepositions.
- A coffee pot is 'a pot for coffee'
- an office manager is 'a manager in an office'
- an armchair is 'a chair with arms'
- a raincoat is 'a coat against the rain'.
Other languages
Most natural languages have compound nouns and adjectives.Spanish:
Italian
- rascacielos, rascar to scratch/scrape + cielos skies - skyscraper
- ciencia-ficción, ciencia science + ficción fiction - science-fiction
- ciempiés, cien hundred + pies feet - centipede
- ferrocarril, ferro iron + carril lane - railway
French:
- grattacielo, grattare to scratch, scrape + cielo sky - skyscraper
- centopiedo, cento hundred + piedi feet - centipede
- ferrovia, ferro iron + via way - railway
- lavacristallo, lavare to wash + cristallo crystal, (pane of) glass - windscreen washer
German:
- gratte-ciel, gratte/gratter scratch/scrape + ciel sky - skyscraper
- chemin de fer, chemin way + de of + fer iron - railway
- moulin à vent, moulin mill + à by means of + vent wind - windmill
- grille-pain, griller to toast + pain bread - toaster
The longest compounds may be found in German such as the following:
- Wolkenkratzer, Wolke cloud + kratzer scraper - skyscraper
- Eisenbahn, Eisen iron + bahn track - railway
- Kraftfahrzeug, Kraft power + fahren/fahr drive + zeug machinery - car, automobile
- Stacheldraht, Stachel barb/barbed + draht'' wire - barbed wire
Kontaktlinsenverträglichkeitstest - contact lens compatibility test
Rheindampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänsstellvertreter - Rhine steamship company vice captain.
Compound adjective
A compound adjective is a modifier of a noun. It consists of two or more morphemes of which the left-hand component limits or changes the modification of the right-hand one, as in "the dark-green dress", dark limits the green that modifies the dress.
Solid compound adjectives
There are some well-established permanent compound adjectives that have become solid over a longer period, especially in American usage: "earsplitting", "eyecatching", "downtown".
However in British usage these, apart from "downtown", are more likely written with a hyphen: "ear-splitting", "eye-catching".
Numbers that are spelled out and have the suffix -fold added: "fifteenfold", "sixfold".
Points of the compass: "northwest", "northwester", "northwesterly", "northwestwards", but not "North-West Frontier".
Hyphenated compound adjectives
A compound adjective should be hyphenated if the hyphen helps the reader differentiate a compound adjective from two adjacent adjectives that each independently modify the noun:
"old English scholar" - an old person who is English and a scholar, or an old scholar who studies English
"Old-English scholar" - a scholar of Old-English.
If, however, there is no risk of ambiguities, it may be written without a hyphen:
"Sunday morning walk".Hyphenated compound adjectives may have been formed originally by an adjective preceding a noun:
Others may have originated with a verb preceding an adjective or adverb:
- "round table" as in "round-table discussion"
- "blue sky" as in "blue-sky law"
- "red light" as in "red-light district"
- "four wheels" as in "four-wheel drive"
and others were created with an original verb preceding a preposition
- "feel good" as in "feel-good factor"
- "buy now", "pay later" as in "buy-now pay-later purchase"
The following compound adjectives are always hyphenated:
- "stick on" as in "stick-on label"
- "walk on" as in "walk-on part"
- "stand by" as in "stand-by fare"
- "roll on", "roll off" as in "roll-on roll-off ferry".
An adjective preceding a noun to which -d or -ed has been added as a past participle construction:
"light-hearted banter",
"heavy-handed treatment",
"loud-mouthed yob",
"middle-aged lady",
"rose-tinted glasses".A noun, adjective or adverb preceding a present participle:
"an awe-inspiring personality"
"a ground-breaking plan"
"a long-lasting affair"
"a far-reaching decision"Numbers spelled out or as numerics:
"seven-year itch"
"five-sided polygon"
"20th-century poem"
"30-piece band"
"tenth-storey window"A numeric with the affix -fold has a hyphen: "15-fold", but spelled out takes a solid construction: "tenfold".
Numbers, spelled out or numeric with added -odd:
"sixteen-odd"
"70-odd".Compound adjectives with high- or low-:
"high-level discussion"
"low-price mark-up".Colours in compounds:
"a dark-blue sweater"
"a reddish-orange dress".Fractions as modifiers are hyphenated: "five-eighth inch", but if numerator or denominator are already hyphenated the fraction itself does not take a hyphen: "thirty-three thousandth part".
Comparatives and superlatives in compound adjectives also take hyphens:
"the highest-placed competitor"
"a shorter-term loan"
However a construction with most is not hyphenated:
"the most respected member".Compounds including two geographical modifiers:
"Afro-Cuban"
"African-American"
"Anglo-Asian", but not "Central American".The following compound adjectives are not normally hyphenated:
Where there is no risk of ambiguity:
"a Sunday morning walk".Left-hand components of a compound adjective that end in -ly that modify right-hand components that are past participles (ending in -ed):
"a hotly disputed subject"
"a greatly improved scheme"
"a distantly related celebrity".Compound adjectives that include comparatives and superlatives with more, most, less or least:
"a more recent development"
"the most respected member"
"a less opportune moment"
"the least expected event".See also: Compound verb, Phrasal verb
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Compound noun and adjective."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A geometric figure composed of several polyhedra sharing a common centre, the three-dimensional analogs of polygonal compounds such as the hexagram.The best known is the compound of two tetrahedra called the stella octangula, discovered by Kepler. The vertices define a cube and the intersection of the two an octahedron, which shares the same face-planes as the compound. Thus it is a stellation of the octahedron, and in fact, the only stellation thereof.
The stella octangula is one of only five compounds that are vertex-, edge-, and face-uniform, called regular compounds:
Components Vertices Face-planes Symmetry group - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 tetrahedra Cube Octahedron Oh 5 tetrahedra Dodecahedron Icosahedron I 10 tetrahedra Dodecahedron Icosahedron Ih 5 cubes Dodecahedron Rhombic triacontahedron Ih 5 octahedra Icosidodecahedron Icosahedron IhThe compound of 5 tetrahedra actually comes in two enantiomorphic versions, which together make up the compound of 10 tetrahedra. Each of the tetrahedral compounds is self-dual, and the compound of 5 cubes is dual to the compound of 5 octahedra.
The stella octangula can also be regarded as a compound of a tetrahedron with its dual polyhedron, inscribed in a common sphere so that the vertices of one line up with the face centres of the other. The corresponding cube-octahedron and dodecahedron-icosahedron compounds are the first stellations of the cuboctahedron and icosidodecahedron, respectively.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Polyhedral compound."
Synonyms: CompoundSynonyms: colonial (adj), chemical compound (n), combine (v), deepen (v), heighten (v), intensify (v). (additional references) |
| Antonym: simple (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Barter | Verb: barter, exchange, swap, swop, truck, scorse; interchange; commutate;Verb: barter, exchange, swap, swop, truck, scorse; interchange; commutate;(substitute); compound for. |
Class | Composition; (inclusion in a compound). |
Combination | Alloy, compound, amalgam, composition, tertium quid; resultant, impregnation. |
Compromise | Verb: compromise, commute, compound; take the mean; split the difference, meet one halfway, give and take; come to terms; (contract); submit to arbitration, abide by arbitration; patch up, bridge over, arrange; straighten out, adjust, differences, agree; make the best of, make a virtue of necessity; take the will for the deed. |
Measurement | Metrology, weights and measures, compound arithmetic. |
Mixture | Instill, imbue; infuse, suffuse, transfuse; infiltrate, dash, tinge, tincture, season, sprinkle, besprinkle, attemper, medicate, blend, cross; alloy, amalgamate, compound, adulterate, sophisticate, infect. |
Substitution | Verb: subs put in the place of, change for; make way for, give place to; supply the place of, take the place of; supplant, supersede, replace, cut out, serve as a substitute; step into stand in the shoes of; jury rig, make a shift with, put up with; borrow from Peter to pay Paul, take money out of one pocket and put it in another, cannibalize; commute, redeem, compound for. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Compound |
| English words defined with "compound": alicyclic compound, aliphatic compound, anionic compound ♦ Binary compound ♦ chelate compound, compound morphology, Compound quantity, Compound word, coordination compound ♦ inorganic compound ♦ organic compound ♦ quaternary ammonium compound ♦ To compound a felony. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "compound": 3-5 compound semiconductor ♦ aromatic compound ♦ clathrate compound, compound compression, Compound Document Architecture, COMPOUND FILLER, COMPOUND FINISHER, compound key, compound negative multinomial distribution, Compound Subjects ♦ Gale's Compound ♦ helicopter-autogyro compound ♦ metallo-organic compound, metastable compound ♦ organo-inorganic compound, organometallic compound ♦ three-five compound semiconductor ♦ Volatile Organic Compound. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "compound": Tetradymite. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Hey! Here's that compound you ordered (Superman III; writing credit: David Newman; Leslie Newman) But they're going to be watching the compound. Not the woods (The Great Escape; writing credit: James Clavell) I know that if a man has a compound fracture and a headache, you put on a tourniquet before you give him an aspirin (Wake Me When It's Over; writing credit: Richard L. Breen; Howard Singer) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Part 4: Handle with Care: From Compound to Aircraft Aviation Fuel Handling (1954) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
High Tech |
| ||
Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
Shown is an illustration of a type of treatment for cancer. 1) Boron compound (b) is selectively absorbed by cancer cell(s). 2) Boron beam (n) is aimed at cancer site. 3) Boron absorbs neutron. 4) Boron disintegrates emitting cancer-killing radiation. See artwork: GR-13. Credit: Pat Kenny (artist). | Natural history of common acquired nevi. Ordinary moles begin as uniformly tan or brown macules, 1 to 2 mm in diameter (a), expand to a larger macule (b), progress to a pigmented papule that may be minimally (c) or obviously (d) elevated above the surface of the skin, and terminate as a pink or flesh-colored papule (e). These lesions are junctional (a,b), compound (c,d), and dermal (e) nevi, respectively. Note their smooth borders and clear demarcation from the surrounding skin. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. | ||
The compound microscope on the right is used to identify mounted specimens, while the stereoscopic microscope, along with chemicals on the left is used to observe living larvae captured from the field. Credit: CDC. | The wasp’s compound eye is actually made up of many identical receptor units called ommatidia. Each receptor contains its own lens and light sensitive cells, and is actually an eye unto itself. Credit: CDC. | ||
![]() | Birdsfoot trefoil contains tannin, a natural antibloating compound. Credit: USDA ARS News. | ![]() | The hearty flavor of corn flour products like tortillas and taco shells is largely the work of a natural compound identified by ARS scientists. They have pinpointed 2-amino-acetophenone as key to flavor and aroma of yellow corn tortilla flour. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Scott Bauer.. |
Living quarters, BLM compound, Chicken, Alaska. Credit: Unknown. | ![]() | Sectional axonometric views. Measured drawing delineated by Roland Rodriguez, 1983. (Reproduction Number: HABS TX-319, sheet 2 of 12) The church depicted in these axonometric views is one of the oldest surviving mission churches in the American Southwest. Built in the mid-eighteenth century by Franciscan monks from Spain, the church once served as the centerpiece of a large missionary compound. In its heyday, the mission included a convent, farmland, workshops, a granary, and a pueblo, or quarters, for christianized American Indians. In common with many Catholic churches built at the same time in Spain and Europe, this church features a vaulted stone roof, twin towers, and a dome over the crossing. Credit: Library of Congress. | |
![]() | Testing the tumor-damaging activity of a compound on a rat. / P. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by S. Silverman.. | ![]() | ... the injection of a contrast medium (usually iodine compound) via a flexible tube ... / WHO p. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by Spooner.. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
![]() |
| "Chop Saw 1" by Dan Mulligan Commentary: "Close up of Dewalt compound miter saw." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Samuel Butler | Compound for sins they are inclined to by damning those they have no mind to. |
Sir Robert Peel | Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs. |
William Shakespeare | The rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | These sbirri seemed a compound of the abjectness of the beggar and the authority of the executioner |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | He lifted a valve and smeared compound on the seat |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | The devil goes on exacting compound interest to the last for his early share and numerous succeeding investments in them |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Researchers are exploring treatment with a compound called myoinositol. (references) | |
Receptors for substance P served as a portal or point of entry for the compound. (references) | ||
These antibodies are labeled with a compound that is seen as a colored deposit when viewed microscopically. (references) | ||
Business | The local fertilizers are of low concentration and contain few compound fertilizers. (references) | |
Compound fertilizers only account for ten percent of total fertilizer produced in China. (references) | ||
Hospital pharmacies are also allowed to compound basic pharmaceutical chemicals into custom-made preparations. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | India | Militants fired three rifle-propelled grenades at the national Doordarshan television (DDTV) network in Srinagar, on March 18 and detonated a bomb outside the compound of Radio Kashmir on April 15. No one was injured in these incidents. (references) |
Mauritania | The Sierra Leoneans held protest demonstrations at the U.N. compound on several occasions throughout 2000 demanding increased assistance and refugee status for all members of the group, including those with full-time employment, and resettlement in the West. (references) | |
Economic History | Lebanon | Several Israeli shells struck the compound, killing 102 civilians sheltered there. (references) |
Human Rights | Afghanistan | Staff who resisted were beaten and ordered to leave the compound. (references) |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | The main prison is a four-building compound located in Kingstown. (references) | |
Afghanistan | One vehicle was taken from the compound by the unidentified armed men. (references) | |
Minorities | East Timor | In the early months of 2000, a group of approximately 250 ethnic Malay Muslims residing at the mosque compound in Dili were harassed by local youth gangs who were throwing stones at the mosque and surrounding structures. (references) |
Niger | In 2000 several hundred Muslims rioted in the provincial capital of Maradi, burned a Protestant church and a nearby seminary facility belonging to the Abundant Life Church, and looted houses and an office at a compound of a foreign missionary organization. (references) | |
Political Economy | RUSSIA | Occasional jurisdictional overlap and disputes between different government regulatory bodies compound certification problems. (references) |
Trade | Australia | This is in contrast to the United States, which has a high proportion of either specific, fixed amounts per unit or weight, or compound duties. (references) |
Portugal | However, specific tariffs and compound tariffs (the basis for weight may be gross, legal net or actual net weight) are also used for some imports. (references) | |
Travel | Kenya | More and more expatriate business executives are leasing compound housing, as these arrangements are more modern and secure. (references) |
Worker Rights | Indonesia | Military officers inside the compound and police near the upholstery factory did not intervene. (references) |
Kuwait | The workers are only allowed off the camp compound on company transport or by permission of the employer. (references) | |
Guatemala | The small number of competent and motivated labor inspectors and the lack of training and resources devoted to detecting and investigating Labor Code violations compound the weakness of the labor courts. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | AGE, n. That period of life in which we compound for the vices that we still cherish by reviling those that we have no longer the enterprise to commit. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Compound" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 87.43% of the time. "Compound" is used about 1,033 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 87.43% | 903 | 7,927 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 8.51% | 88 | 35,154 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 3.68% | 38 | 55,818 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.29% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Noun (common) | 0.1% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,033 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "compound": alicyclic compound ♦ aliphatic compound ♦ alkaline compound ♦ anionic compound ♦ aromatic compound ♦ basic compound ♦ binary compound ♦ binary compound semiconductor ♦ Butalbital Compound and Acetaminophen ♦ chelate compound ♦ chemical compound ♦ clathrate compound ♦ compound addition ♦ compound arithmetic ♦ compound compression ♦ Compound control ♦ Compound crystal ♦ compound Document Architecture ♦ compound engine ♦ Compound ether ♦ compound eye ♦ Compound flower ♦ compound for ♦ compound fraction ♦ compound fracture ♦ compound helicopter ♦ Compound householder ♦ compound interest ♦ compound key ♦ Compound larceny ♦ Compound leaf ♦ compound lens ♦ Compound lever ♦ Compound microscope ♦ compound misfortune with error ♦ compound morphology ♦ Compound motion ♦ compound needle ♦ compound negative multinomial distribution ♦ compound nevus ♦ compound number ♦ Compound pendulum ♦ Compound pier ♦ compound pistil ♦ compound protein ♦ Compound quantity ♦ Compound raceme ♦ compound radical ♦ Compound ratio ♦ Compound rest ♦ compound reversionary bonus ♦ Compound screw ♦ compound sentence ♦ Compound time ♦ compound wall ♦ compound word ♦ coordination compound ♦ dental impression compound ♦ ferric compound ♦ fluorinated compound ♦ heterocyclic compound ♦ inclusion in a compound ♦ inorganic compound ♦ insulating compound ♦ intermediate compound ♦ iron compound ♦ modeling compound ♦ organic compound ♦ organometallic compound ♦ previously established compound ♦ prison compound ♦ prisoner of war compound ♦ quaternary ammonium compound ♦ reservoir compound ♦ ring compound ♦ sealing compound ♦ Soma Compound ♦ spackling compound ♦ stannic compound ♦ stripping compound ♦ To compound a felony ♦ unilaterally compound pitting. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "compound": compound-interest, compound-noun, compound-radius. | |
Ending with "compound": cross-compound, foam-compound. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "compound"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | shtoj (add, add to, add up, advance, append, attach, augment, count in, eke out, enclose, enhance, heighten, inclose, increase, intensify, intercalate, lend, multiply, propagate, put on, pyramid, raise, redouble, refill, subjoin, superinduce, supplement), përzierje (admixture, amalgamation, blend, chow-chow, commixture, composite, confection, conglomeration, fusion, hash, immixture, implication, interference, interfusion, intermixture, involvement, kneading, malaxation, medley, melange, mingle-mangle, mix, mixing, mixture, olio, omnium gatherum, pasticcio, pastiche, promiscuity, salmagundi, shuffle, stir, stirring, temper), përziej (admix, adulterate, alloy, attemper, beat, blend, commingle, confound, conglomerate, dash, drag in, embark, emulsify, implicate, intermingle, intermix, jumble, knead, malaxate, mingle, mix, shuffle, stir), përbërës (component, composing, constituent, fixings, ingredient, integral, integrate, multiple, multiplex, principle), llogaris interesin, lëndë e përbërë (composition), kompleks (campus, complex), kombinoj (combine, conjoin), i përngjitur, i përbërë (complicated, composite, made, new-made), fjalë e përbërë, bie në ujdi (close, strike a bargain, swap, swop), bashkoj (add together, ally, amalgamate, band together, close up, combine, conglomerate, conjoin, conjugate, connect, consolidate, couple, fuse, fuze, glue, hook up, inosculate, integrate, interlock, join, joint, knit, link, merge, piece, piece together, pool, solder, splice, unify, unite, weld), bashkim (affiliation, alignment, alliance, amalgamation, coalescence, community, confederation, conflux, conjunction, consolidation, coupling, fusion, hookup, integration, interconnection, interflow, interfusion, joinder, joining, joint, junction, league, ligature, linkage, merger, reconcilability, reunion, seam, soldering, splice, unification, union, welding). (various references) | |
Arabic | كلمة مركبة, مكينة مركبة, مجمع مبان, مركب (assembled, built up, combination, combined, complex, component, composite, composition, installed, put together, synthesis), وافق (accede, accept, accord, agree, approbate, approve, assent, assert, consent, fit, grant, jump, nod, ok, okay, okey), سوى (accommodate, adjust, but, compose, dispose, equalize, equate, even, flatten, normalize, patch, regularize, settle, smooth, straighten), زاد (add, augment, boost, dispense with, enhance, extend, get dearer, grow, heighten, increase, jump, provisions, push up, put up with smth., supplement, swell, victuals), ضاعف (double, fold, geminate, heighten, multiply, redouble, reduplicate), المنحوتة كلمة منحوتة من كلمتين, إتفق (agree, bargain, be through with, close, come to an agreement, concert, concur, fall in with, jibe, pact), رقعة أرض واسعة. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | сложна дума, двор около затвор, двор около къща, двор около фабрика, погасявам частично дълг, опрощавам дълг, двор около лагер, сложен (aggregate, complex, complicated, convoluted, daedalian, elaborate, integrate, intricate, knotty, multiplex, perplexed, perplexing, sinuous, subtle, tangly, tricky), съставям (compile, compose, design, draw, draw up, form, frame, indite, make, make out, plot, strike), сложносъчинен, смес (admixture, alloy, amalgam, commixture, composite, fusion, infusion, intermixture, medley, melange, miscellany, mix, mixture), смесвам (admix, agglomerate, alloy, amalgamate, blend, combine, commingle, concrete, fuse, incorporate, interfuse, intermingle, intermix, knead, lump, lump together, merge, mingle, mix, mix up), укривам (hide, plant, secrete, smuggle away, tuck away), съединение (coalescence, combination, conjugation, conjunction, fault, hookup, interconnection, interconnexion, interlock, join, joining, joint, junction, link, linkage, meeting, union), съединявам (aggregate, band, butt, clutch, concatenate, conjoin, couple, impale, incorporate, inosculate, interlock, join, join up, knee, knit, link, marry, mate, piece, piece together, rejoin, splice, tag, tie, tie in, unite), споразумявам се (agree, arrange things, negotiate). (various references) | |
Chinese | 複合 (complex), 化合物, 合成 (mixture, synthesis). (various references) | |
Czech | vyrovnat (balance, clear off, eke, eke out, equalize, even, even out, even up, flatten, justify, level up, meet, quit, settle, settle up, smooth out, stack up, steady), souřadný, smìs (amalgam, assortment, blend, brew, combination, commixture, concoction, farrago, medley, miscellany, mix, mix up, mixture), slouèenina, složenina, složený zlomek, složený (composite), ohrazené místo, kompositum. (various references) | |
Danish | sammensaetning, polermiddel (polish), opveje, kompoundvikling, kompound, kompositum, komponere (compose), blanding (admixture, mixture). (various references) | |
Dutch | compoundmachine, compounderen, verbinding (combination, connection), terminologisch syntagma, samengesteld (complex, complicated), polijstmiddel (polish), mengsel (admixture, mixture), mengen (blend, mingle, mix, shuffle). (various references) | |
Farsi | مرکب(.adj), چندجزءی , لفظمرکب , حیاط (Court, Curtilage, Patio, Quirk), ترکیب (Admixture, Blend, Composition, Confection, Feature, Form, Mixture, Physique, Structure, Syntax, Zygosis), عرصه (Arena, Ring), جسم مرکب , امیختن (Amalgamate, Brew, Incorporate, Interlard, Knead, Meddle, Mingle, Mix, Synthesize). (various references) | |
Finnish | yhdyssana, yhdynnäinen, yhdiste (logical sum, union), sekoite, sanaliittotermi, punnita (consider, ponder, think over, weigh), mitata (gauge, measure, pace off, survey), laatia resepti, kompaundi, hioma-aine, aineyhdiste. (various references) | |
French | composé (composed). (various references) | |
German | verbindung (academy, affiliation, alliance, association, catenation, chaining, combination, communication, conjunction, connection, connexion, contact, coupling, fusion, incorporation, intercommunication, interconnection, interface, join, joint, junction, league, liaison, line, link, link up, linkup, marriage, relation, relationship, society, splice, tie, touch, union, wedding), zusammengesetztes wort (complex word, compound word), verbinden (affiliate, ally, associate, bandage, bandaging, bind, bind up, chaine, combine, communicate, concatenate, conjoin, connect, connecting, contact, couple, dress, interconnect, intertwine, join, join on, join up, joint, link, mate, merge, put through, report, splice, splicing, synthesize, tie, tie up, to affiliate, to agglutinate, to ally, to bandage, to chain, to combine, to compound, to concatenate, to conjoin, to contact, to couple, to interconnect, to splice, unite), Präparat (dissection, preparation, prepatation), kompositum. (various references) | |
Greek | χημική ένωση (chemical bond). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מלה מורכבת, מורכב (combined, complex, complicated, composed, composite, intricate), מכלול (complex, ensemble, entirety, generality, integrity, perfection, splendor, totality, wholeness), מרוכב (composed, composite), להרכיב (assemble, build, combine, compose, fabricate, place on, put together, set up), תרכובת (composition), שטח גדור עם בנינים, חומר (element, ingredient, material, matter, mortar, sermon, stuff, subject, substance), הרכב (composition). (various references) | |
Hungarian | összetett (combined, complex, composite, mixed, multiple). (various references) | |
Indonesian | majemuk (composite), halaman tertutup. (various references) | |
Italian | composto (composed, dignified, made up, mixture, self possessed). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 複 (double), 化合物 , 混ぜ合わす (blend, mix together), 混成物 (hybrid, mixture), 境内 (grounds), 境内 (grounds), 合成 (combined, composite, composition, mixed, synthesis, synthetic). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | まぜあわす (blend, mix together), ふく (additional, assistant, associate, auxiliary, bend down, clothes, collateral, copy, crawl, crouch, deputy, double, duplicate, fall prostrate, good fortune, hide, lie down, prostrate oneself, stoop, sub-, submit to, substitute, supplementary, to blow, to dry, to emit, to spout, to wipe, vice-, yield to), かごうぶつ, ごうせい (blackmail, combined, composite, composition, extortion, extravagance, hardness, luxury, magnificence, mixed, persistent demand, rigidity, synthesis, synthetic), こんせいぶつ (hybrid, mixture), けいだい (grounds, Keio University). (various references) | |
Korean | 화합물. (various references) | |
Manx | mestey (churning, confuse, cross-breed, dispense, garble, hybridize, interlace, jumble, mash, miscellany, mix, mixture, promiscuity, shuffle, stir), croa (aperture, coop, corral, enclave, enclosure, eyehole, fold, notch, pen, ring), covroojid, covestit (amalgamated, blended, incorporated, mixed), covestey (admixture, amalgamate, blend, coalesce, co-mix, concoct, conglomerate, incorporate, intermingle, mix, temper), broojey (bruise, compress, cram, crunch, crush, mash, pound, press, pulverization, pulverize, push, ram, squash, squelch, stamping). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ompoundcay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | mistura (admixture, commixture, concoction, cross, fusion, gallimaufry, half-and-half, hodge-podge, hotchpotch, immixture, interfusion, intermixture, jumble, mash, medley, miscellany, mix, mixture, olio, patchwork, salmagundi, shuffle). (various references) | |
Romanian | compus (composite, integral, integrate, multiple), compune (compact, compose, constitute, create, draw, form, frame, indite, Marshal, set, write), component (component, composing, constituent, constitutive, elemental, integrant, integrate), combinat (amalgamate, conjunct), combinaţie (combination, contrivance, intrigue, join, joinder, machinery, plan, scheme, temper), combina (arrange, blend, combine, concoct, contrive, devise, group, hammer out, joint, match, mix, piece, put together, temper), rezolva (clinch, dispatch, do, expedite, piece up, resolve, settle, solve), aranja (adjust, arrange, clench, compose, concert, conclude, contrive, dispose, do, do out, engineer, fiddle, fix, fix up, impose, juggle, Marshal, order, organize, pose, posture, put in order, put to rights, put up, set, set out, set to rights, settle, size, stage, Stow, straighten, suit, tidy, tidy up, trim), amesteca (admix, adulterate, amalgamate, attemper, blend, combine, commingle, concoct, confound, confuse, cross, dilute, embroil, entangle, immix, interblend, interfuse, intermingle, intermix, intersperse, involve, jumble, medley, melt, merge, mingle, mix, muddle, pie, poison, rabble, shuffle, temper, work), amestec (admixture, blend, composite, concoction, connection, crossing, disarray, farrago, fusion, hash, hotchpotch, huddle, interference, intermixture, intervening, jumble, mash, medley, mixture, muddle, olio, omnium gatherum, palaver), ajunge la un acord. (various references) | |
Russian | улаживать (arrange, patch up, reconcile), составной (built up, complex, component, composite, constituent, constitutive, link, made, made up, multiple, sectional), составное слово, составлять состав .сложный, соединять (amalgamate, associate, band, band together, clutch, coalesce, combine, conjoin, connect, couple, incorporate, inosculate, interlock, join, joint, knit, link, merge, mix, piece together, reunite, span, splice, unite, yoke together), соединение (articulation, butt-joint, call, catenation, coalescence, combination, communication, composition, conjugation, conjunction, copulation, coupling, halving, hookup, join, joinder, joining, joint, junction, juncture, liason, ligature, link up, linkage, seam, splice, synthesis), смесь (amalgam, blend, chow-chow, collectanea, commixture, composite, composition, concoction, farrago, hotchpotch, interfusion, intermixture, jumble, medley, melange, mingle-mangle, miscellany, mishmash, mix, mixture, olio, pasticcio, pastiche, potpourri, salmagundi), смешивать (blend, commingle, confound, confuse, cream, intermingle, intermix, jumble, malax, mess up, mingle, mix, mix up, mixed), сложный (built-up, complex, complicated, daedal, daedalian, elaborate, implex, intricate, involute, multiple, multiplex), сложносочиненный, примирять (accommodate, conciliate, propitiate, reconcile). (various references) | |
Scottish | luchd (a burden, a set; used mostly in compound words, burden, cargo, folk, load, people). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | spoj (connection, contact, joggle, join, joint, juncture, rabbet, scarf), smesa (blend, mixture), složenica (complex word), složen (complex, complicated, composite, compositive, elaborate, multiplex), sastavljen, sastaviti (assemble, compile, compose, indite, join, piece, put together, scribe, seam, sew together), jedinjenje, izmešati (blend, brew, commingle, mix, stir). (various references) | |
Spanish | compuesto (composed, composite, improved, integrated, integration, made up). (various references) | |
Swedish | sammansatt (complex, complicated, composite, compositive, made), förening (annexation, association, coalescence, combination, joinder, junction, society, unification, union, uniting), blanda (admix, amalgemate, blend, hybridize, intermingle, intermix, mingle, mix, shuffle, toss, touch). (various references) | |
Turkish | duvarla çevrili binalar topluluğu, örtbas etmek (blanket, cloak, conceal, cover up, explain away, gloss, gloss over, gloze, gloze over, hugger mugger, huggermugger, hush, hush up, keep smth. quiet, obscure, palliate, paper, sink, smother up, suppress, sweep under the carpet, veneer, wash out, whitewash), ağıl (aureola, aureole, corral, cot, Cote, fold, halation, hovel, lair, pen, Pinfold, pound, sheep fold, sheep pen, stockyard, yard), alaşım (alloy, amalgamation, composite), anlaşmak (agree, bargain, be in rapport with, close, come to an agreement, come to terms, compromise, concert, conspire, cotton, covenant, fix on, fix up on, get along, get along with, getting on with, go along, hit it off with smb., keep in with, make a bargain, reach an agreement, settle, settle with, strike a bargain), artırmak (add, aggrandize, amplify, augment, bid up, boom, boost, build up, bump up, deepen, economize, eke out, enhance, escalate, exalt, fade up, gain, heighten, improve, increase, outbid, overbid, put on, put up, raise, run up, save, scale up, screw up, send up, step up, swell out, swell up, up, upgrade, whip up, work up), bileşik (combined, composite), bileşik kelime (portmanteau word), çözmek (break, cipher out, cut loose, decipher, defrost, detach, disengage, disentangle, figure out, loosen, puzzle out, read, reason, resolve, slack, slack up, solve, unbind, unbrace, unbuckle, uncoil, uncouple, undo, unfasten, unfix, ungird, unhitch, unlink, unloose, unpick, unravel, unriddle, unrope, unscramble, untangle, untie, untwine, untwist, unwind, work out), birleştirmek (aggregate, ally, amalgamate, assemble, associate, colligate, combine, confederate, congregate, conjoin, connect, consolidate, consubstantiate, couple, dovetail, federate, fuze, incorporate, inosculate, integrate, interconnect, interlink, join, joint, knit together, knit up, link up, match, mediatize, patch up, piece, piece together, pool, put to, put together, reunite, stick together, tack, tag, unify, unite, wed to), uzlaşmak (close, come to a mutual understand |