compile

[kuh m-pahyl]

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 compiled

And so we compiled this list through conversations with colleagues and social media crowd-sourcing.
The Best Columns of 2014|John Avlon, Errol Louis|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Our young and talented crew was compiled of friends and fellow classmates.
Nitehawk Shorts Festival: ‘Brute,’ a Twisted Take on Playing in the Dark|Julia Grinberg|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I was just trying to get better before I compiled some audition.
How Aidy Bryant Stealthily Became Your Favorite ‘Saturday Night Live’ Star|Kevin Fallon|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All told, Warmuth said he has compiled a list of more than 1,000 appropriations, or “citations” as he calls them, in Chronicles.
Bob Dylan’s ‘Da Vinci Code’ Revealed|Chris Francescani|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Goodwin, an associate professor at Nottingham University, has compiled the first comprehensive study on the rise of Ukip.
Is Britain’s Tea Party Turning Politics Upside Down?|Nico Hines|April 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the astronomers of Babylonia were priests, and indeed the same priests who compiled the hymns and incantations.
The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria|Morris Jastrow
They compiled a calendar, in complete accord with the Metonic cycle, which modern science must declare faultless.
Jewish Literature and Other Essays|Gustav Karpeles
Such of their epistles as have been preserved and compiled in the New Testament also bear this witness.
Rays of Living Light on the One Way of Salvation|Charles W. Penrose
Often individual libraries have compiled lists of their own books on various subjects.
Expository Writing|Mervin James Curl
Demand for books of prayers has caused this book to be compiled.
Prayers of the Early Church|Various

British Dictionary definitions for compiled

compile

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 compiled

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.