compound sentence

American  

noun

compound sentences plural

1. a sentence containing two or more coordinate independent clauses, usually joined by one or more conjunctions, but no dependent clause, as The lightning flashed (independent clause) and (conjunction) the rain fell (independent clause).

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compound sentence British  

noun

1. a sentence containing at least two coordinate clauses

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compound sentence Cultural  

1. A sentence that contains at least two independent clauses, often joined by conjunctions: “Dr. Watson explained his theory, and Sherlock Holmes listened quietly.” (Compare complex sentence, compound-complex sentence, and simple sentence.)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• compound sentences
  plural

Etymology

Origin of compound sentence

First recorded in 1765–75

Compare meaning

How does compound-sentence compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• compound sentence vs. complex sentence
• simple sentence vs. compound sentence

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

compound sentence

What one of the relations of a compound sentence does the second part bear to the first?

From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)

And a similar process takes place with the various elements of a compound sentence.

From Commentary Upon the Maya-Tzental Perez Codex with a Concluding Note Upon the Linguistic Problem of the Maya Glyphs by Gates, William

If the fundamental ideas of the two clauses bear certain definite and evident relations to each other, they should stand in one compound sentence.

From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)

The following sentences illustrate the common relations that may exist between the clauses of a compound sentence.

From English: Composition and Literature by Webster, W. F. (William Franklin)

If two or more clauses, grammatically complete and not joined by a conjunction, are to form a single compound sentence, the proper mark of punctuation is a semicolon.

From A Foreword to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition by James, Juliet Helena Lumbard