compendium

[ kuhm-pen-dee-uhm ]

/ kəmˈpɛn di əm /

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noun, plural com·pen·di·ums, com·pen·di·a

[kuhm-pen-dee-uh]. /kəmˈpɛn di ə/.

a brief treatment or account of a subject, especially an extensive subject; concise treatise: a compendium of medicine.

a summary, epitome, or abridgment.

a full list or inventory: a compendium of their complaints.

OTHER WORDS FOR compendium

1 survey, digest, conspectus.

See synonyms for compendium on Thesaurus.com

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Also com·pend

[kom-pend]. /ˈkɒm pɛnd/.

Origin of compendium

1575–85; <Latin: gain, saving, shortcut, abridgment, equivalent to com-com- + pend- (stem of pendere to cause to hang down, weigh) + -ium-ium

Words nearby compendium

compel, compellation, compelled, compelling, compendious, compendium, compensable, compensate, compensated grade, compensated semiconductor, compensating balance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use compendium in a sentence

The compendium that Sorensen gave Kennedy contains about 150 speeches.
An anthology of great speeches, from the inspirational to the ominous|Jeff Shesol|July 9, 2021|Washington Post
Similar in technique to Fingrutd’s video but more politically pointed, Carlos Franco’s “” is a feverish compendium of outrages against Puerto Rico.
In the galleries: An intimate panorama of video art’s variety and breadth|Mark Jenkins|June 25, 2021|Washington Post
To help, FiveThirtyEight is compiling The Greatness Files, a compendium of, well, what makes great athletes great.
What Makes LeBron James So Great|Chris Herring (chris.herring@fivethirtyeight.com)|December 22, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
To learn everything about how to become a poll worker in your state, the EAC has a comprehensive compendium with all the details.
COVID has created a shortage of poll workers. Here’s how to step in.|Sandra Gutierrez G.|October 1, 2020|Popular-Science

Ultimately, though, it feels like more of a compendium piece than a fully formed documentary.
Catch Him If You Can: Reliving Banksy’s New York Invasion|Alex Suskind|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They Came Together is a compendium of every romcom cliché known to man.
The Romantic Comedy Is Dead|Andrew Romano|July 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This week, a memoir of liberation, a biography of Ariel Sharon, and a comprehensive compendium from a master poet.
This Week’s Hot Reads: January 19th, 2014|Nicholas Mancusi|January 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Scarfe cartoon would comfortably fit in any compendium of such grotesqueries.
A 10-Point Guide To Anti-Semitism And Its Perception|Mark Gardner|February 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
(Tobin contents himself with offering one link in his entire piece, which takes you a compendium of all of Steinfels's work).
Jewish Sharptonism, Part 17|Peter Beinart|September 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
His compendium of Galen was the text-book of medicine in the West for many centuries.
Old-Time Makers of Medicine|James J. Walsh
A compendium would be the bread-fruit, within reach, and easily plucked.
The Sheepfold and the Common, Vol. II (of 2)|Timothy East
The present work is not a compendium of astronomy or an outline course of popular reading in that science.
A Text-Book of Astronomy|George C. Comstock
Below will be found a compendium of Virginia conventions, with the names of the delegates returned by Loudoun County.
History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia|James W. Head
This compendium, together with the Compendium of Metaphysics, was republished at Strassburg in 1722.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 1|Various

British Dictionary definitions for compendium

compendium

/ (kəmˈpɛndɪəm) /

noun plural -diums or -dia (-dɪə)

British a book containing a collection of useful hints

British a selection, esp of different games or other objects in one container

a concise but comprehensive summary of a larger work

Word Origin for compendium

C16: from Latin: a saving, literally: something weighed, from pendere to weigh

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

compendium

OTHER WORDS FOR compendium

Origin of compendium

Words nearby compendium

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How to use compendium in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for compendium

Word Origin for compendium