compendium

noun com·pen·di·um \ kəm-ˈpen-dē-əm \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

plural compendiums or compendia play \kəm-ˈpen-dē-ə\

1 : a brief summary of a larger work or of a field of knowledge : abstract

a one-volume compendium of the multivolume original

2 a : a list of a number of items

b : collection, compilation

a compendium of folk tales

See compendium defined for English-language learners

Examples of compendium in a Sentence

a one-volume compendium of information
He published a compendium of folk tales.

Recent Examples of compendium from the Web

Lipman’s latest book, How to Be Well, is a compendium of advice on all aspects of wellness, a topic Lipman is thrilled to see come to the fore.

— fiorella valdesolo, WSJ, "4 Wellness Experts on Their Favorite Cookbooks, Grooming Products and More," 5 Apr. 2018
The 1987 set Diesel and Dust came in at No. 1 in the 100 Best Australian Albums, a compendium of homegrown recordings published in 2010.

— lars brandle, Billboard, "Midnight Oil to Receive Australia's Ted Albert Award," 5 Apr. 2018
Polar bears, according to Chris' compendium of tru facs (patent pending), are most famous for being the animal least-likely to express regret after accidentally chewing off your left foot.

— chris lee, Ars Technica, "Porous silk fiber traps heat, hides a rabbit from IR camera," 4 Apr. 2018
So many steps skipped on the compendium of force to simply shot him 9 times and call it a day.

— tom jackman, Washington Post, "Video shows Park Police fired nine shots into Bijan Ghaisar’s Jeep at close range, killing him," 24 Jan. 2018
The Rub of Time, Amis’s new anthology of essays and reportage, is not concerned expressly with cliché, at least compared to the previous compendium.

— calum marsh, The New Republic, "Martin Amis Makes the Case for Snobbery," 16 Mar. 2018
The staff rejected some and packaged the rest into a 70-page compendium that predictably inflamed the commission’s conservatives.

— edward kosner, WSJ, "‘Separate and Unequal’ Review: ‘Two Societies, One Black, One White’," 2 Mar. 2018
In any compendium of foods that serve a crowd, the Bundt cake is a star.

— cathy barrow, charlotteobserver, "Here’s how I finally got my Bundt cake out of its pan | Charlotte Observer," 27 Feb. 2018
Fresh Ink: An Anthology, a compendium of diverse stories for young adults by writers of color, is edited by Lamar Giles and includes a new play by Walter Dean Myers.

— hope wabuke, The Root, "These New and Upcoming Books by Black Authors Will Give You Life in These Perilous Times," 11 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'compendium.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of compendium

Medieval Latin, from Latin, saving, shortcut, from compendere to weigh together, from com- + pendere to weigh — more at pendant

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1589

See Words from the same year

compendium Synonyms

Synonyms

album, anthology, compilation, miscellany, reader;

Related Words

almanac, digest, garland, symposium;

casebook, sourcebook;

archives, corpus, library, miscellanea;

COMPENDIUM Defined for English Language Learners

compendium

noun

: a collection of things (such as photographs, stories, facts, etc.) that have been gathered together and presented as a group especially in the form of a book

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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for compendium Spanish Central: Translation of compendium Nglish: Translation of compendium for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of compendium for Arabic speakers

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