compound

¹ American  

[kom-paund, kom-paund, kom-paund, kuhm-paund, kom-paund] / 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-paund] / 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

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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

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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

Shortly afterwards, an AFP reporter saw a silver car with Najib inside leaving the Kajang Prison compound, followed by a convoy of vehicles.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

When the researchers introduced this modified system into cultured liver cancer cells, they observed the anticancer compound forming inside the cells.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026

A metallic compound, molybdenum trioxide can be used to make tough, heat-resistant alloys used in armored vehicles or missile engines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

But their water and electricity supplies were cut off that day, and access to the compound has since been restricted.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

Then she asked if I was in any danger and if I needed to stay at the compound.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

Instead of delivering toxic drugs throughout the body, their experimental approach uses carbon monoxide released by cancer cells to manufacture anticancer compounds directly inside the cells themselves.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026

Vertex has used roughly 50 AI companies to comb through its data set of 10,000 drug compounds, Leiden said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

In the first set of experiments, both compounds reduced nitration at the two vulnerable sites on HGF.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026

Vertex Pharmaceuticals used roughly 50 AI companies to comb through its data set of 10,000 drug compounds, but none generated a working drug.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

As he drove me home, I looked out of the open window at the compounds we drove past.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Hims said it has never provided compounded versions of Lilly’s GLP-1 drugs.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026

This issue is compounded by a growing number of tech-savvy employees creating their own custom agents, armed with their data-access credentials.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

Officials say international supply disruptions linked to the Iran war have compounded the problem, with banks struggling to honour letters of credit and some overseas suppliers demanding upfront payment.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

After a shocking start, a bad call at the toss compounded by a wayward bowling performance across the first two hours, Australia roared back into the Test in the afternoon.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

This is now compounded by panic, which is bad for the digestion.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

There is a compounding effect when share counts are reduced.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

Potentially compounding the problem: The default administrator password for the Danfoss controller is set to “12345,” according to documentation on the manufacturer’s website.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026

On Wednesday, regulators disclosed that the government won’t penalize compounding pharmacies that produce the six peptides reviewed by the FDA’s advisory committee in July: BPC-157, Epitalon, KPV, MOTS-c, Semax and TB-500.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026

His daughters will start their working lives with between £45,000 to £60,000 of debt each, plus interest, which will be compounding at £5,000 to £8,000 per year.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

But it would end up being one of many little things—a slow accrual, compounding steadily and imperceptibly toward critical mass.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

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Related Words

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

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