▪ I. compound, v.
(kəmˈpaʊnd)
Forms: α. 4–6 compown(e, 4–7 compoun(e, (5 compone); β. 6 compownd(e, compounde, 6– compound. pa. tense and pple. 5–6 compowned, compouned, 5–7 compound: see also compound ppl. a.
[ME. compoune-n, -powne-n (in 15th c. also -pone), ad. OF. compon-re, -pondre, -pundre (pr. pple. componant (-pondant), 3 pl. pr. component) = Pr. componre, -pondre, It. componere, comporre:—L. compōn-ĕre to place or put together: see compone. (OF. on gave ME. oun, as in dragoun, lesoun, noun, soun.) The form compoun(e survived to c 1575, and compound as pa. tense occurs even after 1600 (though it may then have been referred no longer to a vb. compoun, but looked upon merely as short for compounded); on the other hand, to compound(e is known at least as early as 1520. For the history of the final -d in compound, expound, propound, see expound, which in all its forms occurred earlier in English, and was the type followed by compound. In this word the current use of the original pa. pple. compouned, compound, as an adj., would of itself tend to establish a vb. to compound, as in to content, to direct, and the verbs referred to under -ate3; cf. also astound ppl. a. and v.]
I. To put together, combine, construct, compose.
† 1. trans. To put together, to join; to apply.
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 90 How that the Latin shall be compouned And in what wise it shall be souned. 1660 Barrow Euclid vi. xxxii, If two triangles having two sides proportional to two be so compounded or set together at one angle. |
2. a. To put together, unite, combine, mix (elements). Now chiefly used of the mixing of various ingredients so as to form a composite product.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 83 Take jus of wormod..honey..barli mele..& compoune [MS. B compone] hem togidere & fille þe wounde. Ibid. 43 Ech of hem bi him-silf or ellis compound. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 116 Onely compound me with forgotten dust. c 1600 ― Sonn. lxxi, When I (perhaps) compounded am with clay. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 237 Other sorts of odoriferous wood, which they compound with waters still'd with flowers. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 38 This terrene is compounded with the igneous, airy, and aqueous. 1817 Keatinge Trav. I. 101 The artist..having compounded trees, rocks, and water, in such a manner as completely to spoil them all. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iii §14. 52 The very staff of life needs to be separated from its chaff, and variously compounded, before it can be used for..food. |
b. of the mixing up of non-material elements.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 1018 Thus saugh I fals and sothe compouned. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. (1839) 6 When a man compoundeth the image of his own person with the image of the actions of another man. a 1661 Fuller Worthies 126 William Shakespeare..in whom three eminent Poets may seem in some sort to be compounded. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) VII. xvii. 273 His nature compounded different and contrary qualities together. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. App. 528 The..version is made up by compounding the story of William of Poitiers with that which we find in Henry of Huntingdon. |
c. Math. To combine (individual forces, velocities, and the like), so as to obtain a resultant equivalent to the whole acting together; also to combine (ratios): see quot. 1875.
| 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xx. G b, If magnitudes disioynedly or seperatly be proportionall, conioynedly or compounded, they shall also bee proportionall. 1875 Todhunter Algebra xxvi. 224 If the antecedents of any ratios be multiplied together and also the consequents, a new ratio is obtained, which is said to be compounded of the former ratios. Thus the ratio ac : bd is said to be compounded of the two ratios a : b and c : d. 1882 Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 33 Reversing P's velocity on itself and on Q, and compounding this reversed velocity with Q's absolute velocity. 1884 tr. Lotze's Logic 261 Complicated mechanical problems cannot always be solved by directly compounding all the forces in operation. |
d. To combine (verbal elements) so as to make a compound word.
| 1530 Palsgr. 138 Somtyme prepositions be compounde with substantyves, as sursavlt. 1830 Herschel Study Nat. Phil. 137 Whose names may become attached to, or compounded with, the former. |
† e. intr. (for refl.) To unite, become compound.
| 1727 Thomson Summer 1792 Th' obedient Phantoms vanish or appear; Compound, divide, and into Order shift. |
f. Electr. trans. To wind the field magnets of (a dynamo) so that it will be excited by a current flowing through both a shunt and a series coil.
| 1884 F. Krohn tr. Glaser de Cew's Magn. & Dyn.-Electr. Mach. 253 The Gülcher machine..has been ‘compounded’, or made self-regulating, by winding the field-magnets, so as to secure a constant potential at the terminals. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 588/1 If the series-turns are still further increased, the voltage may be made to rise with an increasing load, and the machine is ‘over-compounded’. |
g. fig. To increase or complicate (a difficulty, etc.); to augment.
| 1961 G. F. Kennan Russia & West xi. 164 The inconsistency and folly of this course was compounded by one more factor. 1979 H. Kissinger White House Years xviii. 724 Chinese wariness was compounded by doubts of our ability to maintain confidences. 1984 P. Ackroyd T. S. Eliot iv. 86 The strain of this uncertainty compounded his own exhaustion. |
3. trans. To make up (a composite product) by the mixture of combination of various ingredients or elements.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 521 Tydynges Bothe of feire speche and chidynges And of fals and soth compovned [s.v. compowned]. 14.. Epiph. in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 117 Ephyphanye Whych is a word..compowned..of Epi fyrst and phanos sothe to seyn. c 1570 Pride & Lowl. (1841) 81 It was compounded with great diligence Of symplis by an Apothecary. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 52 b, A beaste compouned of a swyne and of an Ape. 1611 Bible Exod. xxx. 25 An oyntment compound [1569 compounde] after the arte of the Apothecarie. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 254, I..did compound for her A certaine stuffe. 1662 H. Stubbe Ind. Nectar Pref. 6 Essays in compounding Chocolata. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1762) p. xv, Method of compounding and decompounding Medecines. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi France & Italy I. 80 Its construction was compounded of comic and distressful scenes. 1822 Q. Rev. XXVI. 205 Another solitary adept..who expected to compound the alcahest. |
4. a. To compose; to construct, form. (Now used only in senses akin to 3.)
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. ix. 87 Neuer to compoune werke of floterynge mater. c 1391 ― Astrol. Prol. 1 A suffisaunt astralabie as..compowned after the Latitude of Oxenford. 1571 Digges Pantom. Pref. A ij, Superficies..whether they be compounde with straighte or [with] circulare lines, or mixte of bothe. 1577 Hellowes Gueuara's Chron. 31 Traiane..persuaded the Oratours to compounde many meetres to his praise. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 221 Shall not thou and I..compound a Boy, halfe French halfe English. a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 459 One Nepos..compounded many Hymnes and Psalms. 1814 Southey Roderick xxiii, The Spirit who compounded thee. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 340 Meletus..has been compounding a riddle. |
† b. To make up or form (an army). Obs.
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iv. i. §8 He compounded an army of great strength. Ibid. v. ii. §8 Who with the Boij and Insubriens, compound an army of fifty thousand foot. 1622–62 Heylyn Cosmogr. iii. (1673) 206/1 These Foot are compounded most of Gentry. 1644 Sir W. Waller in Cal. St. Papers (1888) 301 An army compounded of these men. |
† c. To devise, form (a scheme). Obs. rare.
| 1520 ed. of Caxton's Chron. Eng. vii. 95/1 Kynge Edwarde..compounded in his mynde how he myght recover his treasour. |
† 5. To make up, constitute, or compose, as ingredients or elements do. Obs.
| 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. ii. 35 His pompe, and all what state compounds. 1663–4 Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 140 [The reasons] altogether will not compound one solid argument. 1691 Ray Creation (1714) 28 The Muscles compounding the Sides of that ventricle. Ibid. i. (1704) 68 Corpuscles of such Figures as they compounded before. |
II. To compose differences, settle claims.
* trans.
† 6. a. To settle or compose (disturbance, strife, litigation, a difference). Obs.
| 1546 St. Papers Hen. VIII, XI. 224 All thinges being compownded and at a good poynte in the reste of the worlde. 1562 Act 5 Eliz. c. 4 §28 Yf..the said Justice..cannot compounde and agre the Matter between [them]. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 28 Rise Gremio, rise, we will compound this quarrell. 1597–8 Bacon Ess. Hon. & Reput. (Arb.) 70 Such as compound the long Miseries of ciuill Warres. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xxiv. 151 He compounds many petty differences betwix this neighbours. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 16 They took great pleasure in compounding law-suits among their neighbours. 1757 E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Fr. (1767) I. 62 To compound this dispute upon revenge. |
† b. absol. Obs.
| 1596 Spenser State Irel. 4 Theyr judge will compound betweene the murderer and the friends of the murdered. |
7. Of the parties: To settle (a matter) by mutual concession; to compromise.
| 1659 Gentl. Call. (1696) 134 Neither of the combatants were so implacable but that they could willingly have compounded the matter. 1699 Bentley Phal. 154 We may compound the difference thus. 1777 W. Dalrymple Trav. Sp. & Port. xi, I disputed the point, threatened to..complain, when we compounded the affair. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 65 In case the suit had not been compounded. |
8. a. To settle (a debt) by agreement for partial payment; to discharge (a recurring charge or subscription) by paying a lump sum.
| 1665 Manley Grotius Low-C. Warres 562 Horatio Palavine's Debt..was afterwards privately compounded. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. i. 144. 33 Both knave and fool the Merchant we may call To pay great summs, and to compound the small. 1705 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) V. 581 Pitkin, the linnen draper..has compounded his debts for 8s. 6d. in the pound. 1827 Scott Diary 25 Dec., I might have employed the money..in compounding my debts. |
b. To settle (any matter) by a money payment, in lieu of other liability.
| 1709 Steele Tatler No. 26 ¶2, I have compounded Two or Three Rapes. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., Montriul, There is always a matter to compound at the door, before you can get into your chaise, and that is with the sons and daughters of poverty who surround you. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. xix. 172 With the police 'twere easy to compound it. |
9. Said of the creditor or claimant: To accept a composition for; to condone (a liability or offence) for money or the like; to settle privately with one.
to compound a felony (or the like): to forbear prosecution for some consideration, which is an offence at law. to compound an information: to reveal a crime, and commence a prosecution, with the object of being paid or ‘squared’ in order to desist.
| 1683 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. xv. 284 Orderd, that none of the said company..presume to take or compound for the future, any fines. 1717 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. II. xlvii. 42 It is the business of the next relations to revenge the dead person; and if they like better to compound the matter for money there is no more said of it. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 201 ¶10 His companions..laughed at his uneasiness, compounded the offence for a bottle. 1775 Burke Sp. Conc. Amer. Wks. III. 122, I for one, protest against compounding our demands: I declare against compounding for a poor limited sum, the immense, evergrowing, eternal debt..due to generous government. |
** intr.
† 10. To agree, make terms, bargain, contract (with, for). Also with indirect passive. Obs.
| 1419 in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 28 I. 88 For the which guerdon..oure said Lord of Powys hase compownyd with us and fynaly accorded. 1557 Tusser 100 Points Husb. xi, With thy seruauntes compound, to carry thy muckhilles, on thy barley ground. 1602 Segar Hon. Mil. & Civ. iii. xiii. 129 Seuen gentlemen doe compound with seuen other, to run certaine courses at the Tilt. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 25 Compound with him by the yeere, and let him abide here with you. c 1665 Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 397 It is believed that Richard himself was compounded with, to have resigned the place. |
11. To come to terms or settle a dispute, by compromise or mutual concession.
| a 1528 Skelton Vox Populi 325, I wysche they myght have grateis Lysens to compounde. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xlv. (1612) 213 Richard Plantagenet, the Duke of Yorke..Sought to depose sixt Henrie..But they compound. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iii. xi. §5 Agesilaus having thus compounded with Tithraustes, entred Phrygia. 1635 Quarles Embl. i. x. (1718) 43 Take my advice: compound, and share the prize. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 533 ¶2 They gladly compounded to throw their cards in the fire if he would his paper. 1860 Motley Netherl. (1868) I. vi. 333 Aldegonde had promised the enemy to bring them to compound. 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. xii. 194. |
12. To come to terms as to the amount of a payment; to make a pecuniary arrangement (with a person, for forgoing a claim, conferring a benefit, etc.).
| 1539 Act 31 Hen. VIII, c. 4 The saide recompence..to be paied..onlesse that the maire..can otherwise compound or agree with the lordes. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 7 b, These Coronells..will accept of no Captaines, but of such as will compound with them and buy their Captainship. 1652 Needham Selden's Mare Cl. 492 Enforced them to compound for great summes that they might fish quietly for one year. 1667 E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. iii. i. (1743) 142 The Bishop compounds for the First Fruits of his Bishoprick. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 175 Compounders for malt shall not be liable to compound, or pay duties, for cyder or perry, to be..consumed in their own families. 1865 Merivale Rom. Emp. VIII. lxiii. 21 These new occupants gladly compounded for the protection..by a tribute. |
| fig. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iv. vi. 33 For hearing this, I must perforce compound With mixtfull eyes, or they will issue to. 1796 Burke Lett. Noble Ld. Wks. 1842 II. 270 But they have a means of compounding with their nature. 1887 Lowell Democr. 94 [Memory] is forced to compound as best she may with her inexorable creditor—Oblivion. |
13. a. To come to terms and pay for an offence or injury; to substitute a money payment in lieu of any other liability or obligation; to pay.
| 1555 Fardle Facions ii. xi. 257 Thei neuer lette them go vntill they haue compounded by the purse. 1632 Star Chamb. Cases (Camd. Soc.) 126 He alsoe brought his severall actions of rescusse against every one of them; some compound with him. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §1 Their purses compound for their follies. 1654 Ordinances c. 55. Sept. 2 The persons so compounding. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. cxiv, Encroachments that shall be compounded for. 1774 Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772, 75 The governor would have compounded for his life by ransome. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. 199 The country gentlemen were compelled to take up knighthood, or to compound for exemption. |
b. To discharge any liability or satisfy any claim by a compromise whereby something lighter or easier is substituted.
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 215 Compound for Sins they are inclin'd to, By damning those they have no mind to. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 211 The captive Fox..with a Limb Compounded for his Life. 1765 Blackstone Comm. II. 74 The personal attendance in knight-service growing troublesome..the tenants found means of compounding for it; by first sending others in their stead, and in process of time making a pecuniary satisfaction to the lords in lieu of it. 1781 Cowper Truth 291 No Papist more desirous to compound, Than some grave sinners upon English ground. |
c. To pay one sum as a final discharge for an annual or recurring charge or subscription.
| 1867 Oxford Univ. Calendar 100 But, in lieu of this annual charge, every one..may..compound for all such Dues. |
14. Of an insolvent debtor: To settle with creditors and pay a fixed proportion in discharge of their full claims.
| 1654 Warren Unbelievers 64 Christ did not compound with the Father, as broken debtors with the creditour, making him to take lesse then was due. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 736 Dr. Cox put himself in prison purposely to compound for his debts. 1771 Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 64 He failed..compounded, and went to America. 1809 R. Langford Introd. Trade 121 A tradesman..compounds with his creditors for 8s. 71/4d. per pound. |
15. a. To accept a composition in lieu of one's full claims, or of things relinquished.
| 1611 Heywood Gold. Age i. Wks. 1874 III. 8 Tytan. If my owne land proue thus vnnaturall I'le purchase forraine aid. 1 Lord. Rather compound. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 133 The rest of his men..compounded for the other Towns they had. 1750 Chesterfield Lett. III. 21, I am very willing to compound for your coming nearer to perfection than the generality of your comtemporaries. 1819 Crabbe T. of Hall vii. Wks. 1834 VI. 137 So Fancy willed, nor would Compound for less. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) V. ix. vii. 365 If the Emperor should compound for any territory, and receive tribute instead of possession. |
b. To accept terms of settlement in lieu of prosecution: hence the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents (i.e. Royalists) under the Commonwealth.
| 1576 Act 18 Eliz. c. 5 §4 No suche Informer..may compounde or agree with any Person..that shall offende against any Penall statute. a 1626 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law 2 If they will not sue, or if they be compounded withall. 1646 Ordinances c. 69. Feb. 6 For establishing Commissioners..to compound with Delinquents. 1829 Scott Rob Roy Introd. 9 To prevent those who have lost..money by robbery, from compounding with the felons for restoration of a part of their booty. 1889–90 (title) Calendar of the Proceedings of the Committee for Compounding, 1643–1660. |
16. Racing slang. Of an animal: to fail to maintain its speed or strength, give out, fail.
| 1876 Coursing Cal. 126 It is difficult to say whether the best of the dog puppies came off successful, as they were all beginning to compound to-day. 1928 Observer 17 June 28/6 Once in the line for home, Goose Kiss did not remain at the head of affairs, for he compounded rapidly. |
▪ II. compound, a.
(ˈkɒmpaʊnd)
Forms: 5 i-compouned, y-componed, -yd, componed(e, -yd(e, -pouned, 6 -pounde, 5 -pound.
[Originally pa. pple. of compoune, compone (see compound v.), and so of 3 syllables, com-poun-ed, but already c 1400 reduced to two; its participial character, which was thus obscured, was lost entirely after the vb. became compound with pa. pple. compounded.]
1. gen. Made up by the combination of several elements or ingredients. a. artificially.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 92 Medicyns boþe þe symple & þe compound [v.r. componed]. 1566 Drant Horace Sat. ii. iv. (R.), Some kinde of compounde wyne. 1601 Holland Pliny (1634) I. 547 Certain compound medicines for trees. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. iii. (ed. 2) 452 The farmer..may make his compound dunghill of the earth of the field which he intends to manure. 1859 Donaldson Gk. Gram. ¶364 A compound word is an union of two or more words, represented at least by their roots, and conveying their separate and combined signification. 1868 Helps Realmah ii. (1876) 19 Some compound sleep-stuff..I say compound, because I am sure it was mixed with some drug. |
b. Consisting in its nature of a combination of various parts; composite, complex.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 11 Þilke .iiij. complexiouns..sumtyme ben y-componed [v.r. y-componyd], þat is to seie, medlid. 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 366 Elements and compound things. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne, Varieties of Man 199 The Gryphons, those compound animals. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. iv. (1814) 42 A body is Considered as Compound when two or more distinct substances are capable of being produced from it; thus Marble is a Compound body. |
c. Involving the combination of various actions, processes, notions, etc.; combined, collective.
| 1711 F. Fuller Med. Gymn. 99 A Compound Method of Cure. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §174 Through the wall, and through an opposite buttress, whose compound thickness amounted to eight feet. 1823 F. Cooper Pioneers iii, This offspring of compound genius. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. i. ii. (1864) 51 In the propulsion of food there is a compound or double action. |
† d. ‘Made up’, fictitiously composed. Obs.
| 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. 128 No man shall thinke it is a compound fable, but that of a trueth it did passe. |
2. Specific uses. a. Surg. and Med., in compound cyst, compound rupture, compound dislocation, etc.; compound fracture variously used: see esp. quots. 1783, 1847, 1885.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 90 Þe festre þat is now vlcus I-compouned [v.r. componed]. 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. 83 Everye wounde is compounde, that hath anythyng joyned unto it, without remotion..as woundes caused by brusynge. Ibid. (1586) 273 A fracture compound is that which is accompanied with a wound. 1685 J. Cooke Marrow Chirurg. (ed. 4) i. i. i. 5 Fractures..are either simple or compound. 1745 tr. Van Swieten's Boerhaave III. 136 When the ulna and radius are both fractured together..they then call the fracture complicated, or even compound, though it would also seem that a fracture may be termed compound, when only a single bone is broken in several places. 1783 Pott Chirurg. Wks. I. 449, I use the term Compound fracture in the sense in which the English have always used it, that is, to imply a broken bone complicated with a wound. Ibid. II. 14 If both intestine and omentum contribute mutually to the formation of the tumour, it is called entero⁓epiplocele, or compound rupture. 1831 Sir A. Cooper Dislocations (ed. 7) 13 In compound dislocation not only the articulatory surfaces of the bone are displaced, but the cavity of the joint is laid open by a division of the skin and the capsular ligament. 1847 South tr. Chelius' Surg. I. 509 A fracture is only compound when a wound, however small, communicates with it so as to expose the broken bone to the air. 1885 Syd. Soc. Lex., Fracture, compound, fracture with a coexisting skin wound, with which it communicates. |
b. Arith. and Alg. (a) Made up by combination of several elements, as † compound decimal, one consisting of a whole number and a decimal fraction (obs.); c. fraction (see quot.); c. number, a number formed by multiplication of factors, a composite number; also, † a number represented by two or more figures (obs.); c. quantity (in Alg.), a quantity consisting of more than one term; (in Arith.) a quantity expressed in terms of various denominations, as pounds, shillings, and pence; c. ratio, see quot. for obs. use; now, the ratio formed by multiplying together the antecedents, and also the consequents, of two or more ratios. (b) Dealing with other than simple numbers, dealing with numbers of various denominations of quantity, measure, weight, etc., as in compound addition, compound division, compound multiplication, compound subtraction. (c) Proceeding by other than the simple process, as compound (formerly compounded) interest, compound proportion.
| 1557 Recorde Whetst. A iij, Compounde nombers are made by multiplicacion of 2 nombres together. 1579 Digges Stratiot., There be three sorts of numbers..the last a mixt or a compound. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. i. i. (ed. 7) 2 Compound is that which is compounded of Article and Digit, as 13, 14, 17, 24. Ibid. i. xxvii. (ed. 7) 73 Consider whether your Divisor be compound, or simple, I call that compound which contayneth Fractions. 1660 T. Willsford Scales of Commerce i. ii. 48 Use or Interest hath..two Species, viz. Simple or Compounded. Ibid. 49 Compound interest..is called interest upon interest. Ibid. 59, I will..proceed to Decimall Tables of compounded Interest. 1806 Hutton Course Math. I. 32 Compound Addition shows how to add or collect several numbers of different denominations into one sum. Ibid. I. 127 Compound Interest, called also Interest upon Interest, is that which arises from the principal and interest, taken together, as it becomes due. Ibid. (1827) I. 52 A Compound Fraction, is the fraction of a fraction..as, ½ of 2/3, or 3/5 of 5/6 of 3. 1859 Barn. Smith Arith. & Alg. (ed. 6) 194 A quantity consisting of more than one term, as a + b, a + b + c, is called a Compound quantity. 1875 Todhunter Algebra xxvi. 224 Let there be three ratios..a : b, b : c, c : d; then the compound ratio is a × b × c : b × c × d. |
c. Archit. compound order: composite order.
compound arch, compound archway: in mediæval architecture, a series of arches of different sizes inclosed in an archway of larger dimensions. compound pier: ‘a term sometimes given to a clustered column’ (Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss.).
| a 1639 Wotton Ground Rules Archit. (1676) 8 The Compound Order, or as some call it, the Roman, others more generally the Italian. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 27 Composite, Compound, or Roman. 1726 R. Neve Builder's Dict. (ed. 2), Architects reckon five Orders..viz. Tuscan, Dorick, Ionick, Corinthian, and Roman, Composite, or Compound Order. |
d. Zool. and Bot. Consisting of a combination of individual organisms, as compound animal, compound zoophyte, compound coral, etc., or of simple parts, as compound eye, compound stomach, compound flower, compound fruit, compound leaf, compound umbel, etc.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 108 Compound; bearing a flower like Jessamine. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) I. 321 The Dandelion and the Thistle are compound flowers; that is, each of these flowers are composed or compounded of a number of small flowers, called Florets. 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 770/2 Certain Crustacea..exhibit..Compound eyes..having distinct facets. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) §2311 The compound stomach is that possessed by the Ruminantia..and consists of four distinct cavities. 1880 Gray Struct. Bot. iii. §4. 100 Compound Leaves are those which have from two to many distinct blades, on a common leaf-stalk. |
e. Mech. and Physics, as in compound axle, compound engine, compound electro-magnet, compound lever, compound locomotive, compound microscope, compound motion, compound pendulum, compound screw, compound steam-engine, compound-winding; compound-wound adj.
| 1710 J. Clarke Rohaults' Nat. Phil. (1729) I. 84 As there are Compound Motions, so also are there compound Determinations. 1829 Nat. Philos., Mechanics ii. iv. §26. 10 (Useful Knowl. Soc.) The power may act upon the weight through.. a series of levers, in which case the apparatus is called a composition of levers, or a compound lever. 1829 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 272 A compound-pendulum, vibrating in the character of scarecrow. 1838 Comstock Nat. Philos. (ed. Lees) 46 Compound motion is that motion which is produced by two or more forces, acting in different directions, on the same body, at the same time. 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. i. ii. 31 In the compound microscope, not less than two lenses must be employed. 1879 G. B. Prescott Sp. Telephone p. ii, In 1830, Professor Henry deduced from the hypothesis of Ampère..the compound electro-magnet. 1884 S. P. Thompson Dyn.-Electr. Mach. 96 Compound windings may be arranged in several different ways. If wound on the same core the shunt coils are sometimes wound outside the series coils: less frequently the series coils are outside the shunt. Ibid. 98 The compound-wound or self-regulating dynamos. 1886 M. Reynolds Engineman's Pocket Comp. iii. 25 A compound engine is a condensing engine in which the mechanical action of the steam is begun in one cylinder and ended in a larger cylinder. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 587/2 Compound-winding..was first used by S. A. Varley and by Brush. 1947 Aeroplane 12 Sept. 385/3 The engine was then compared with a turbo-prop. engine..assuming the same maximum temperature as the compound engine required. 1949 Aero Digest Mar. 30/2 A simple compound engine..is a conventional reciprocating engine, to which a ‘blow down’ turbine has been added to utilize the velocity energy of the exhaust. |
f. Music.
compound interval († compound concord), one exceeding an octave. compound stop: an organ-stop having more than one rank of pipes. compound time: time or rhythm in which each bar is made up of two, three, or four bars of simple time.
| 1694 W. Holder Harmony (1731) 39 Notwithstanding this Distinction of Original and Compound Concords. 1848 Rimbault 1st Bk. Piano 29 Compound Common Time occurs when two bars of Triple Time are joined in one ..Compound Triple Time is when the measure of common Triple Time is divided into nine parts. 1880 Grove Dict. Mus. s.v., 4–4 time, which is made up of two bars of 2–4 time..in Germany is always classed with the compound times. In England however..those rhythms only [are] considered as compound, in which each beat is divisible into three parts. 1881 C. A. Edwards Organs 148 Compound stops do not give any one sound to a note, but a combination of two or more. |
g. compound householder: a householder whose rates are included in his rent, and paid by the landlord.
| 1851 14 & 15 Vict. c 14 (title) An Act to amend the Law for the Registration of certain Persons commonly known as ‘Compound Householders’. 1880 M{supc}Carthy Own Times IV. 110 The compound householder..was the occupier of one of the small houses the tenants of which were not themselves rated to the relief of the poor. |
compound larceny, compound radical, etc.: see larceny, etc.
h. Logic, as in compound proposition, compound statement.
| 1574 tr. Ramus' Logike 76 The compounde proposition is eyther congregatiue or segregatiue. 1654 Z. Coke Art of Logick 116 Hitherto of a simple propositon: now followeth the compound, which consisteth of a sense or sentence compounded. 1694 R. Blome tr. Le Grand's Entire Body Philos. 28/2 Compound Propositions are such as consist of more Subjects and Predicats. 1870 A. Bain Logic 85 The whole of this class might be called Compound, instead of complex, Propositions. 1953 I. M. Copi Introd. Logic vii. 195 Each of these exceptive propositions is compound. Ibid. viii. 221 A compound statement is one which does contain another statement as a constituent part. |
i. Gram., as compound sentence (see sentence n. 6 a); compound verb (see quot. 1925). Cf. quot. 1859 for sense 1 a.
| 1772 A. Bayly Gram. Eng. Lang. 76, I am at a loss in what class to place compound verbs, whether in that of thoughtless chance, or of judicious accommodation. Ibid. 80 We now proceed to compound sentences, wherein to avoid inaccuracy is required the greatest judgement and attention... Compound sentences are formed by the help of certain adverbs, relatives and participles. 1850 W. C. Fowler Eng. Gram. vi. x. 568 Two simple sentences are connected either by way of Co-ordination, or by way of Subordination... The two sentences taken together constitute a co-ordinate compound sentence. 1863 A. Bain Eng. Gram. 38 The prepositions in such cases become adverbs united to the verbs, constituting them compound verbs. Ibid. 161 A compound sentence contains two or more co-ordinate sentences united: ‘the sun rose, and the mists disappeared.’ 1925 Grattan & Gurrey Our Living Lang. xii. 80 This union of simple Verb with Particle forms what is known as a Compound Verb. Ibid. 81 All these [arise, bespeak, depart, etc.] are..Compound Verbs. Ibid. xlii. 268 The units are co-ordinate and, occurring in a row, are linked together by words... Such a group is called a Compound Sentence. |
▸ compound duple adj. Music of or designating a time or rhythm having two beats, each subdivided into three, in a bar (cf. sextuple adj. 2).
| 1857 J. Hullah Rudim. Mus. Gram. xvii. 36 Fig. 120 is in *compound duple time, because each beat is a dotted note (divisible by three). 1902 J. M. McLaughlin Elements & Notation Music vi. 34 Sextuple (compound duple) measure when the tempo is slow is marked thus. 2001 D. Braid Play Classical Guitar 46 This time signature is also known as compound-duple time—this just means the bar has two halves, each of which has three beats. |
▪ III. compound, n.1
(ˈkɒmpaʊnd)
[subst. use of the adj.: cf. the parallel history of compost n. Originally stressed on second syllable; so in H. More, and still dialectally; Shakes. has both, but ˈcompound more frequently.]
1. quasi-concr. A union, combination, or mixture of elements.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. i. iii. (1676) 404/2 Mahometans are a compound of Gentiles, Jews, and Christians. 1710 Addison Tatler No. 220 ¶3 A Compound of Two very different Liquors. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. viii. v. 237 Their customs..are a kind of compound of those of Lima and Quita. 1814 Scott Wav. xlvii, It was not fear, it was not ardour,—it was a compound of both. |
2. concr. a. A compound substance; spec. a compounded drug, as opposed to ‘simples’. chemical compound, a substance composed chemically of two or more elements in definite proportions (as opposed to a mixture).
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. v. 9 These most poysonous Compounds. 1641 Bp. Hall Serm. in Rem. Wks. (1660) 52 As we say in our philosophy..only compounds nourish. 1808 J. Dalton New Syst. Chem. Philos. I. 216 All the chemical compounds which have hitherto obtained a tolerably good analysis. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 42 Compounds formed by the mixture of two or more different metals, are called alloys. 1866 H. E. Roscoe Elem. Chem. v. 46 The air is a mixture, and not a chemical compound of constituent gases. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 80 Compounds which contain a larger proportion of oxygen. 1887 [see mixture 4]. 1950 Science News XV. 103 Proteins are by far the most complex chemical compounds. |
b. transf. of what is immaterial.
| 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. iv. §26 (1864) 301 Volition is a compound, made up of this and something else. |
c. A compound word, a verbal compound.
| 1530 Palsgr. 395 Je prens is a symple whiche hath for his compoundes je reprens, etc. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxvi, To new-found methods and to compounds strange. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 126 Wee retaine it in the compound Husband. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 127 Classified, in that jargon which makes an uncouth compound pass muster for a new critical nicety, as a tendency-poet. |
† d. A composite number. Obs.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. i. vii. (ed. 7) 25 Such numbers as may be evenly divided by another number without leaving any remainder, are called Compounds. |
e. A compound locomotive.
| 1890 Railway Herald 25 Oct. 6/3 The driver of one of the latest compounds on L. & N.W. [railway]. Ibid. The compounds make up in oil what they save in coal. |
† 3. A composition, a thing made up. Obs.
| 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass vi. (1664) 79 Strugling together..will soon dissever the parts, and rend in sunder the whole Compound. 1613–6 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. iii, Man's compounds have o'erthrown his simplenesse. 1773 J. Ross Fratricide (MS.) ii. 922 What am I but a compound frail of dust, Wak'd into life by thy enlivening breath? |
4. Compounding, composition.
| 1671 J. Webster Metallogr. iii. 41 Imperfect..in regard of the Compound. 1694 W. Holder Harmony (1731) 39 Whereas beyond an Octave, all is but Repetition of these [concords] in Compound with the Eighth, as a Tenth is an Eighth and a Third. 1741 Betterton in Oldys Eng. Stage ii. 19 Roxana is haughty, malicious, insinuating, with this Compound, She is made desperately in Love with Alexander. 1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. Surrey 139 The Name of this..District is of Saxon Compound. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) I. xxv. 205 A different compound of character. |
▪ IV. compound, n.2 orig. Anglo-Ind.
(ˈkɒmpaʊnd)
[Of disputed origin, but referred by Yule and Burnell, on weighty evidence, to Malay kampong, kampung (in Du. orthog. kampoeng) ‘enclosure, space fenced in’; also ‘village, quarter of a town occupied by a particular nationality’, as the ‘Chinese kampong’ at Batavia. In this latter sense, campon occurs in a Pg. writer of 1613.
Earlier conjectures were that it was a corruption of Pg. campanha or F. campagne country, or of Pg. campo field, camp. See Yule Anglo-Ind. Gloss. s.v.]
1. The enclosure within which a residence or factory (of Europeans) stands, in India, China, and the East generally.
Supposed by Yule and Burnell to have been first used by Englishmen in the early factories in the Malay Archipelago, and to have been thence carried by them to peninsular India on the one hand and China on the other. In later times, it has been taken to Madagascar, East and West Africa, Polynesia, and other regions where Englishmen have penetrated, and has been applied by travellers to the similar enclosures round native houses.
| 1679 Fort St. Geo. Consns. 14 Apr. (Yule), There the Dutch have a Factory of a large Compounde. 1696 T. Bowyear Jrnl. Cochin China 30 Apr. (Y.), Their custom-houses of which there are three, in a square Compound of about 100 Paces over each way. 1763 Verelst Transl. fr. Persian in Phil. Trans. LIII. 267 Ali Chowdry's compound opened [from an Earthquake], and the water..filled a deep ditch, that surrounded his house. 1781 India Gaz. 3 Mar. (Y.), Godown usurps the ware-house place, Compound denotes each walled space. 1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master viii. 232 He chang'd his course, and soon he found The way into his own compound. a 1847 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor I. iv. 79 Pretty thatched cottages standing in little compounds, or yards, hedged round with a kind of prickly fence. 1857 Livingstone Trav. xvii. 314 He had made the walls of his compound, or courtyard. 1884 C. T. Buckland Soc. Life India iii. 51 All the factory-buildings usually stand in one compound..and this is in size almost equal to a small park. |
2. In South Africa, an enclosure within which the workmen in diamond or gold mines live and remain during their term of employment, having no communication with the outside. Also attrib.
| 1893 T. Cook Mission Tour 25 The men sign articles to remain in these compounds for a certain period, usually six months, and are not allowed to leave for any cause until the time has expired. 1897 Empire 11 Dec., The Compound system saved the mines from the clutches of the illicit diamond buyers. 1901 Contemp. Rev. Mar. 320 How does he [sc. the native] get into the Kimberley compounds? He goes there of his own accord. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 19 June 2/2 A riot at the Nourse Mine..in which 400 Chinese wrecked the house of the compound manager. |
3. A large fenced-in space in a prison, concentration camp, or the like.
| 1946 Brickhill & Norton Escape to Danger vi. 83 He had seen this man walking round the compound as a prisoner. Ibid. xxvi. 222 Germans..had a habit of sneaking into the compound at night. 1954 W. Faulkner Fable (1955) 119 The camouflage-painted huddle of the prison-compound. |