compile

[ kuh m-pahyl ]

/ kəmˈpaɪl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR compile ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), com·piled, com·pil·ing.

to put together (documents, selections, or other materials) in one book or work.

to make (a book, writing, or the like) of materials from various sources: to compile an anthology of plays; to compile a graph showing changes in profit.

to gather together: to compile data.

Computers. to translate (a computer program) from a high-level language into another language, usually machine language, using a compiler.

Nearby words

Origin of compile

1275–1325; Middle English < Latin compīlāre to rob, pillage, steal from another writer, equivalent to com- com- + -pīlāre, perhaps akin to pīla column, pier, pile¹, pīlāre to fix firmly, plant (hence, pile up, accumulate)

Related formspre·com·pile, verb (used with object), pre·com·piled, pre·com·pil·ing.re·com·pile, verb (used with object), re·com·piled, re·com·pil·ing.un·com·piled, adjectivewell-com·piled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for compile

Winnowing down countless artifacts to compile A History of New York in 101 Objects was challenging enough.
We All Have a Rosebud in Our Pasts|Sam Roberts|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One spokesperson even worked late into the night to compile statistics related to Peace Corps safety.
The Peace Corps' Awful Secret|Tim Mak|August 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We would before Christmas compile a thick book of readings for him.
Clinton, Bush, and Obama Speechwriters on How They Made the State of the Union Address|Chris Riback|January 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But I'm willing to bet that when I compile my Top Ten list next December, True Detective will still reign supreme.
‘True Detective’ Review: You Have to Watch HBO’s Revolutionary Crime Classic|Andrew Romano|January 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

If I was Gchatting with Chinese dissidents, the state could compile evidence for a political trial.
Were the Chinese the ‘State-Sponsored Attackers’ Trying to Hack Me?|Eli Lake|February 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He did not write according to copy, nor compile from commonplace books.
Ernest Maltravers, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
At the end of the play the "learned men" are made to compile a dialogue "in praise of the owl and the cuckoo."
William Shakespeare|John Masefield
I shall only try to compile an ensemble of concise and very precise notions and statements bearing upon this vast subject.
The French Impressionists (1860-1900)|Camille Mauclair
He had hoped to compile a digest of English law, but found it more than he could do alone, and had laid it aside.
Bacon|Richard William Church
For the reasons which induced Cassiodorus to compile the two books of Formulae, see his Preface (translated, p. 133).
The Letters of Cassiodorus|Cassiodorus (AKA Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator)

British Dictionary definitions for compile

compile

/ (kəmˈpaɪl) /

verb (tr)

to make or compose from other materials or sourcesto compile a list of names

to collect or gather for a book, hobby, etc

computing to create (a set of machine instructions) from a high-level programming language, using a compiler

Word Origin for compile

C14: from Latin compīlāre to pile together, plunder, from com- together + pīlāre to thrust down, pack

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

Word Origin and History for compile

compile

early 14c., from Old French compiler "compile, collect" (13c.), from Latin compilare "to plunder, rob," probably originally "bundle together, heap up;" hence "to pack up and carry off," from com- "together" (see com-) + pilare "to compress, ram down." Related: Compiled; compiling.