What does "compound" mean?

1. (chemical substance) a substance made when two or more chemical elements are joined together. 2. (fenced area) an area of land that contains a group of buildings and is surrounded by a fence or wall. 3. (linguistics) a word made by joining two or more existing words together. 4. (to make worse) to make a difficult situation or problem even worse. 5. (finance) to calculate interest on both the original amount of money and the interest already earned. 6. (made of parts) consisting of two or more parts or elements.

How do you use "compound"?

Often used with 'chemical' or 'organic'. Commonly refers to 'compound words'. Often used as 'compounded interest' or 'to compound annually'.

compound

n. · v. · adj.

US //ˈkɑmpaʊnd// com·pound

1 chemical substance (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Academic Science

a substance made when two or more chemical elements are joined together.

a substance formed from two or more elements chemically united in fixed proportions.

Example

Water is a chemical compound made of hydrogen and oxygen.

Example

The laboratory technician synthesized a new organic compound that showed promise in inhibiting bacterial growth during the initial trials.

Usage

Often used with 'chemical' or 'organic'.
- element
2 fenced area (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

an area of land that contains a group of buildings and is surrounded by a fence or wall.

a fenced or walled enclosure containing a group of buildings, often for residential, military, or industrial purposes.

Example

The embassy staff lives in a secure compound near the city center.

Example

The humanitarian mission established a fortified compound to protect the medical supplies and provide safe housing for the international volunteers.

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3 linguistics (n.)
C1 Advanced Academic Technical Science

a word made by joining two or more existing words together.

a lexeme consisting of more than one stem, functioning as a single semantic unit.

Example

The word 'notebook' is a compound made from 'note' and 'book'.

Example

In Germanic languages, the formation of complex compounds is a productive morphological process that allows for the creation of highly specific nouns.

Usage

Commonly refers to 'compound words'.
- composite
4 to make worse (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

to make a difficult situation or problem even worse.

to intensify or exacerbate a negative situation or problem by adding further complications.

Example

The heavy rain will only compound the traffic problems today.

Example

The central bank's failure to adjust interest rates served only to compound the existing inflationary pressures within the domestic economy.
- alleviate
- improve
5 finance (v.)
C1 Advanced Technical Math

to calculate interest on both the original amount of money and the interest already earned.

to calculate interest on the principal sum plus the accumulated interest of previous periods.

Example

The interest on your savings account will compound every month.

Example

Investors often underestimate the power of wealth to compound over several decades when dividends are consistently reinvested into the portfolio.

Usage

Often used as 'compounded interest' or 'to compound annually'.
- accumulate
6 made of parts (adj.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Academic

consisting of two or more parts or elements.

composed of two or more separate elements; not simple or singular in structure.

Example

A compound leaf has several small leaflets joined to a single stem.

Example

The architect proposed a compound structure that utilized both steel and reinforced concrete to achieve the necessary load-bearing capacity.
- simple
- single

Etymology 1

Possibly from Malay kampong, kampung (“group of buildings, village”), via Dutch or Portuguese, altered under the influence of Etymology 2. Doublet of kampung.

Etymology 2

From Middle English compounen, from Middle French componre, compondre (“to put together”), from Latin componō, from Latin com- (“together”) + ponō (“to put”).