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v. com·pound·ed, com·pound·ing, com·pounds v.tr. 1. To combine so as to form a whole; mix: Tin was often compounded with lead to make pewter. 2. To produce or create by combining two or more ingredients or parts; compose or make up: pharmacists compounding prescriptions. 3. To settle (a debt, for example) by agreeing on an amount less than the claim; adjust. 4. To compute (interest) on the principal and accrued interest. 5. a. To add to or intensify so as to make worse: "The university authorities ... compounded their crime in dismissing [the professor] by denying that their action ... reflected any abridgment of academic freedom" (John Kenneth Galbraith). b. To make worse by being an additional or intensifying factor: High winds compounded the difficulties of the firefighters. v.intr. 1. To combine in or form a compound. 2. To come to terms; agree. adj. (kŏmpound′, kŏm-pound, kəm-) 1. Consisting of two or more substances, ingredients, elements, or parts. 2. Botany Composed of more than one part: a compound pistil. n. (kŏmpound′) 1. A combination of two or more elements or parts. 2. Linguistics A word that consists either of two or more elements that are independent words, such as loudspeaker, self-portrait, or high school, or of specially modified combining forms of words, such as Greek philosophia, from philo-, "loving," and sophia, "wisdom." 3. Chemistry A pure, macroscopically homogeneous substance consisting of atoms or ions of two or more different elements in definite proportions that cannot be separated by physical means. A compound usually has properties unlike those of its constituent elements. [Alteration of Middle English compounen, from Old French componre, compondre, to put together, from Latin compōnere; see COMPONENT.] com·pounda·ble adj. com·pounder n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
| n. 1. A building or buildings, especially a residence or group of residences, set off and enclosed by a barrier. 2. An enclosed area used for confining prisoners of war. [Alteration (influenced by COMPOUND1) of Malay kampung, village, ward or quarter of a town, perhaps of Austroasiatic origin; compare Old Khmer kaṃveṅ, enclosing wall, rampart, nominalization (with nominalizing infix -ən-) of khveṅ, to encircle, enclose : k-, intensive prefix + veṅ, to go around, enclose (akin to Mon waṅ, enclosure, and Koho (Austroasiatic language of southern Vietnam) waŋ, cattle yard).] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
