compound

¹ American  

[kom-pound, kom-pound, kom-pound, kuhm-pound, kom-pound] / ˈkɒm paʊnd, kɒmˈpaʊnd, ˈkɒm paʊnd, kəmˈpaʊnd, ˈkɒm paʊnd /

adjective

1. 

   composed of two or more parts, elements, or ingredients.

   Soap is a compound substance.

2. having or involving two or more actions or functions.

   The mouth is a compound organ.

3. Grammar. of or relating to a compound sentence or compound-complex sentence.

4. (of a word)

   1. consisting of two or more parts that are also bases, forming a or as housetop, many-sided, playact, or upon.

   2. 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 ).

5. (of a verb tense) consisting of an auxiliary verb and a main verb, as are swimming, have spoken, or will write (opposed to simple).

6. Botany. composed of several similar parts that combine to form a whole.

   a compound fruit.

7. Zoology. composed of a number of distinct individuals that are connected to form a united whole or colony, as coral.

8. Music. of or relating to compound time.

9. 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.

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noun

1. something formed by compounding or combining parts, elements, etc.

2. Chemistry. a pure substance composed of two or more elements whose composition is constant.

3. a compound word, especially one composed of two or more words that are otherwise unaltered, as moonflower or rainstorm.

verb (used with object)

• compounds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• compounded,
  past participle,  past
• compounding
  present participle

1. to put together into a whole; combine.

   to compound drugs to form a new medicine.

2. to make or form by combining parts, elements, etc.; construct.

   to compound a new plan from parts of several former plans.

3. to make up or constitute.

   all the organs and members that compound a human body.

4. to settle or adjust by agreement, especially for a reduced amount, as a debt.

5. Law. to agree, for a consideration, not to prosecute or punish a wrongdoer for.

   to compound a crime or felony.

6. to pay (interest) on the accrued interest as well as the principal.

   My bank compounds interest quarterly.

7. to increase or add to.

   The misery of his loneliness was now compounded by his poverty.

8. Electricity. to connect a portion of the field turns of (a direct-current dynamo) in series with the armature circuit.

verb (used without object)

• compounds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• compounded,
  past participle,  past
• compounding
  present participle

1. to make a bargain; come to terms; compromise.

2. to settle a debt, claim, etc., by compromise.

3. to form a compound.

compound ² American  

[kom-pound] / ˈkɒm paʊnd /

noun

1. an enclosure, especially one for prisoners.

2. an enclosed or protected area where a group of people live or work, such as a military base.

3. any separate cluster of homes, often owned by members of the same family.

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compound ¹ British  

/ ˈkɒmpaʊnd /

noun

1. (esp formerly in South Africa) an enclosure, esp on the mines, containing the living quarters for Black workers

2. any similar enclosure, such as a camp for prisoners of war

3. (formerly in India, China, etc) the enclosure in which a European's house or factory stood

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compound ² British  

noun

1. a substance that contains atoms of two or more chemical elements held together by chemical bonds

2. any combination of two or more parts, aspects, etc

3. a word formed from two existing words or combining forms

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verb

1. to mix or combine so as to create a compound or other product

2. to make by combining parts, elements, aspects, etc

   to compound a new plastic

3. to intensify by an added element

   his anxiety was compounded by her crying

4. finance to calculate or pay (interest) on both the principal and its accrued interest

5. (also intr) to come to an agreement in (a quarrel, dispute, etc)

6. (also intr) to settle (a debt, promise, etc) for less than what is owed; compromise

7. law to agree not to prosecute in return for a consideration

   to compound a crime

8. 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

1. composed of or created by the combination of two or more parts, elements, etc

2. (of a word) consisting of elements that are also words or productive combining forms

3. (of a sentence) formed by coordination of two or more sentences

4. (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''

5. music

   1. denoting a time in which the number of beats per bar is a multiple of three

      six-four is an example of compound time

   2. (of an interval) greater than an octave

6. zoology another word for colonial

7. (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

8. (of a piston engine) having a turbocharger powered by a turbine in the exhaust stream

compound Scientific  

/ kŏm′pound′ /

1. A substance consisting of atoms or ions of two or more different elements in definite proportions joined by chemical bonds into a molecule. The elements cannot be separated by physical means. Water, for example, is a compound having two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom per molecule.

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1. Composed of more than one part, as a compound eye or leaf.

compound Cultural  

1. In chemistry, a substance containing two or more elements in definite proportions.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• compoundedness
  noun
• compounder
  noun
• compoundable
  adjective
• noncompoundable
  adjective
• uncompoundable
  adjective
• uncompounded
  adjective
• uncompounding
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• compounding
  present
• compounded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• compound
  simple
• compounds
  simple
• have compounded
  perfect
• has compounded
  perfect
• am compounding
  progressive
• are compounding
  progressive
• is compounding
  progressive
• have been compounding
  perfect progressive
• has been compounding
  perfect progressive

Past

• compounded
  simple
• had compounded
  perfect
• was compounding
  progressive
• were compounding
  progressive
• had been compounding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will compound
  simple
• will have compounded
  perfect
• will be compounding
  progressive
• will have been compounding
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

compound compounds compounded compounding

In April 2025, the Ellisons held a dinner at their Florida compound, hosting donors, school officials and former Michigan stars such as Los Angeles Rams running back Blake Corum and NBA player Duncan Robinson.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

This combination of activities "may have interacted to amplify the compound event," the study said.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Computer chip and software developer Broadcom purchased the Irvine office compound it rented in the latest example of a well-funded company taking advantage of depressed real estate prices to switch from renter to owner.

From Los Angeles Times ● 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

As we moved back out onto the water, Baby Joe was sweeping the compound with a broom that looked bigger than him.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

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

Questions about particular compounds, exposure conditions, and other biological effects remain areas for investigation.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

Instead, those compounds are useful reference points because they are familiar examples of molecules that absorb light very efficiently.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

This is all completely insane, and every new piece of information only compounds the insanity.

From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse

Ads will invite individuals to speak on the phone with a hired “healthcare professional” who will rubber-stamp a prescription and authorize the compounded medication to be shipped directly to the unwitting patient.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 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

The weakness was compounded by rising imports and a second consecutive quarterly decline in investment, as exports grew only modestly and businesses and public corporations pulled back on capital spending.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Market-share losses to Chinese rivals will likely be compounded by the cuts to Volkswagen’s model lineup, noted Citi auto analyst Harald Hendrikse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 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

The senators’ letter said the Center for Law and the Economy report indicates that the issue hasn’t been resolved and that the chatbots may in fact be compounding it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 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

However, as you might know, compounding interest does mean that you will be giving up exponentially more money than what you actually put into your account.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

He traveled to Chicago, Asheville, Knoxville, Louisville, and Rochester, each overnight leg compounding his distress.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• add to
• aggravate
• exacerbate
• heighten
• intensify
• magnify
• multiply
• worsen