decompound

[dee-kuhm-pound, dee-kom-pound, dee-kom-pound, -kuhm-]

verb (used with object)

1. to decompose.

2. Obsolete.,  to compound a second or further time.

adjective

1. Botany.,  divided into compound divisions.

2. composed of compounds compound the parts of which are also compounds, compound, as a bipinnate leaf.

decompound

/ ˌdiːkəmˈpaʊnd /

adjective

1. (of a compound leaf) having leaflets consisting of several distinct parts

2. made up of one or more compounds

verb

1. a less common word for decompose

2. obsolete,  to mix with or form from one or more compounds

Other Word Forms

• undecompounded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of decompound¹

First recorded in 1605–15; de- + compound ¹

Example Sentences

Culm 3–6° high; leaves about 6´´ wide; cymes decompound, diffuse; bristles awl-shaped, stout, unequal, shorter than the achene.—Wet places, Penn. to Fla., west to S. Ind. and Mo. 14.

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Having a forked petiole, and a pair of leaflets at the end of each division; biconjugate; twice paired; Ð said of a decompound leaf.

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But if the division goes still further, or if the degree is variable, we simply say that the leaf is decompound; either palmately or pinnately decompound, as the case may be.

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We have this advantage in the analysis of atmospherical air, being able both to decompound it, and to form it a new in the most satisfactory manner.

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Cymes decompound, or in the northern form somewhat simple and smaller, and the spikelets usually more clustered; bristles capillary, twice the length of the achene.—Borders of ponds, Mass. to N. J. and Fla.; rare.

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