compendium

noun

com·​pen·​di·​um kəm-ˈpen-dē-əm 

plural compendiums or compendia 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

Synonyms of compendium

• compilation
• anthology

Examples of compendium in a Sentence

a one-volume compendium of information

He published a compendium of folk tales.

Recent Examples on the Web

In one Zoom interview, Chalk carries his laptop over to another room in his house to show off his two-volume TASCHEN Books compendium on the making of that cinema classic, filled with rare photographs, annotated script pages, and more. —Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Nov. 2025

Entertaining, originally published in 1982, has been out of print for years, but interest in the 300-recipe compendium that spawned Stewart’s business empire spiked last year, after CNN and Netflix both released documentaries about her. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2025

Angelina Jolie's emails, including about supporting brother Jamie, revealed in court documents Some of Jolie's messages, which Pitt also included in his compendium of evidence, veered into the personal. —Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025

Lee Unkrich shared photos from the visit to the set in the 2015 compendium, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. —Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin, "gain, profit, saving, short cut, abridgement, summary," from com- com- + pendere "to weigh, have a weight of, pay (out), estimate, consider" + -ium, suffix forming nouns from compound verbs — more at pendent

Note: Latin compendium would appear to have been formed from compendere, presumably "to weigh together," but the only evidence for such a verb is its citation by varro to account for the etymology of compendium.

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1