compound
1 Americanadjective
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composed of two or more parts, elements, or ingredients.
Soap is a compound substance.
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having or involving two or more actions or functions.
The mouth is a compound organ.
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Grammar. of or relating to a compound sentence or compound-complex sentence.
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(of a word)
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consisting of two or more parts that are also bases, forming a or as housetop, many-sided, playact, or upon.
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consisting of any two or more parts that have identifiable meaning, as a base and a noninflectional affix (return, follower ), a base and a combining form (biochemistry ), two combining forms (ethnography ), or a combining form and a noninflectional affix (aviary, dentoid ).
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(of a verb tense) consisting of an auxiliary verb and a main verb, as are swimming, have spoken, or will write (opposed to simple).
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Botany. composed of several similar parts that combine to form a whole.
a compound fruit.
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Zoology. composed of a number of distinct individuals that are connected to form a united whole or colony, as coral.
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Music. of or relating to compound time.
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Machinery. noting an engine or turbine expanding the same steam or the like in two successive chambers to do work at two ranges of pressure.
noun
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something formed by compounding or combining parts, elements, etc.
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Chemistry. a pure substance composed of two or more elements whose composition is constant.
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a compound word, especially one composed of two or more words that are otherwise unaltered, as moonflower or rainstorm.
verb (used with object)
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compounds,
present (3rd person singular)
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compounded,
past participle, past
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compounding
present participle
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to put together into a whole; combine.
to compound drugs to form a new medicine.
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to make or form by combining parts, elements, etc.; construct.
to compound a new plan from parts of several former plans.
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to make up or constitute.
all the organs and members that compound a human body.
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to settle or adjust by agreement, especially for a reduced amount, as a debt.
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Law. to agree, for a consideration, not to prosecute or punish a wrongdoer for.
to compound a crime or felony.
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to pay (interest) on the accrued interest as well as the principal.
My bank compounds interest quarterly.
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to increase or add to.
The misery of his loneliness was now compounded by his poverty.
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Electricity. to connect a portion of the field turns of (a direct-current dynamo) in series with the armature circuit.
verb (used without object)
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compounds,
present (3rd person singular)
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compounded,
past participle, past
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compounding
present participle
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to make a bargain; come to terms; compromise.
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to settle a debt, claim, etc., by compromise.
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to form a compound.
noun
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an enclosure, especially one for prisoners.
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an enclosed or protected area where a group of people live or work, such as a military base.
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any separate cluster of homes, often owned by members of the same family.
noun
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(esp formerly in South Africa) an enclosure, esp on the mines, containing the living quarters for Black workers
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any similar enclosure, such as a camp for prisoners of war
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(formerly in India, China, etc) the enclosure in which a European's house or factory stood
noun
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a substance that contains atoms of two or more chemical elements held together by chemical bonds
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any combination of two or more parts, aspects, etc
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a word formed from two existing words or combining forms
verb
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to mix or combine so as to create a compound or other product
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to make by combining parts, elements, aspects, etc
to compound a new plastic
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to intensify by an added element
his anxiety was compounded by her crying
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finance to calculate or pay (interest) on both the principal and its accrued interest
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(also intr) to come to an agreement in (a quarrel, dispute, etc)
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(also intr) to settle (a debt, promise, etc) for less than what is owed; compromise
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law to agree not to prosecute in return for a consideration
to compound a crime
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electrical engineering to place duplex windings on the field coil of (a motor or generator), one acting as a shunt, the other being in series with the main circuit, thus making the machine self-regulating
adjective
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composed of or created by the combination of two or more parts, elements, etc
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(of a word) consisting of elements that are also words or productive combining forms
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(of a sentence) formed by coordination of two or more sentences
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(of a verb or the tense, mood, etc, of a verb) formed by using an auxiliary verb in addition to the main verb
the future in English is a compound tense involving the use of such auxiliary verbs as ``shall'' and ``will''
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music
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denoting a time in which the number of beats per bar is a multiple of three
six-four is an example of compound time
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(of an interval) greater than an octave
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zoology another word for colonial
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(of a steam engine, turbine, etc) having multiple stages in which the steam or working fluid from one stage is used in a subsequent stage
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(of a piston engine) having a turbocharger powered by a turbine in the exhaust stream
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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compoundednessnoun
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compoundernoun
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compoundableadjective
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noncompoundableadjective
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uncompoundableadjective
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uncompoundedadjective
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uncompoundingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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compoundsimple
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compoundssimple
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have compoundedperfect
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has compoundedperfect
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am compoundingprogressive
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are compoundingprogressive
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is compoundingprogressive
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have been compoundingperfect progressive
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has been compoundingperfect progressive
Past
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compoundedsimple
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had compoundedperfect
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was compoundingprogressive
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were compoundingprogressive
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had been compoundingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of compound1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb componen, compounen, compownen, from Old French compon- (stem of compondre ), from Latin compōnere, equivalent to com- com- + pōnere “to put”; Middle English adjective compouned, past participle of componen, as above
Origin of compound2
First recorded in 1670–80; alteration, by association with compound 1, of Malay kampung “village, collection, gathering”; cf. kampong
Explanation
If you compound a problem you add something to it to make it worse, like say, putting water on a grease fire. Compound means to combine; a compound is a combination or mixture of two or more things. Compound has several specialized uses. A compound is either a mixture or two or more things, or a heavily guarded residence. In botany, a compound leaf consists of more than one part. In linguistics, a compound is a word that consists of two or more independent words. In chemistry, a compound is a substance created when atoms from chemical elements join together.
Vocabulary lists containing compound
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 5
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This combination of activities "may have interacted to amplify the compound event," the study said.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The American restaurant’s name is more in tune with Lucas’ Marin County farm and film-production compound, Skywalker Ranch, though both are named for “Star Wars” protagonist Luke Skywalker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
The black-market compound enters the U.S. from overseas suppliers, often based in China or India, and is sold by clinics and online sellers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
The 2023 investigation focused on sucralose-6-acetate, a compound that is chemically related to sucralose but is not the same substance.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
On the morning of August 1, 1985, Colonel Vitaly Yurchenko informed the staff at the Soviet embassy compound in Rome that he would be spending the morning touring the museum exhibits in Vatican City.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Tishler and his Merck colleagues supplied the chemical and manufacturing expertise needed to turn compounds into medicines that could be widely produced.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
NPR described the outcome as a striking rejection of the FDA’s stance, pointing out that every one of these compounds lacks the large, well-controlled clinical trials required to prove safety and effectiveness in humans.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
PET contains carbon-rich molecules that can potentially be broken apart and rebuilt into useful compounds, including components that can ultimately become proteins.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
They programmed several types of yeast, including baker's yeast, to take molecules derived from plastic and agricultural leftovers and convert them into proteins, vitamins, and flavoring compounds.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
By and large, odorants are chemically small, Spartan compounds.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
As with so many land mines in our broken healthcare system, having a reliable and trustworthy practitioner to consult and query regarding the reality of compounded medications is the best solution.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
The explosion in use of compounded versions of weight-loss drugs has “really exposed these gaps in our regulatory structure,” said John Hertig, board chair of the advocacy group Collaborative for Evidence-Based Medicines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Recognizing that 9/11’s horrors compounded over the years does not degrade the memory of its initial victims.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
Millions have already been struggling for decades under international sanctions, with economic pressures compounded by more than six months of war with the United States.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
If you’d had a head start at home, you were rewarded for it at school, deemed “bright” or “gifted,” which in turn only compounded your confidence.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Part of the answer, of course, is that Home Depot started its public market compounding journey at a much lower base.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
If the FDA agrees with the panel’s recommendation, six of the seven injectable peptides they evaluated will no longer be barred from pharmacy compounding.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
The same water supply network feeds several other locations across the capital's Royal Parks, compounding broader operational pressures faced by maintenance staff over the summer.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Now the talent flight is compounding other pre-IPO jitters about OpenAI’s business model and competitive position.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
But it would end up being one of many little things—a slow accrual, compounding steadily and imperceptibly toward critical mass.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.