- compound (v.)
- "to put together," late 14c., compounen "to mix, combine," from Old French compondre, componre "arrange, direct," from Latin componere "to put together" (see composite). The -d appeared 1500s in English on model of expound, etc. Related: Compounded; compounding.
- compound (n.1)
- 1670s, via Dutch (kampoeng) or Portuguese, from Malay kampong "village, group of buildings." Spelling influenced by compound (v.). Originally, "the enclosure for a factory or settlement of Europeans in the East," later used of South African diamond miners' camps (1893), then of large fenced-in spaces generally (1946).
- compound (adj.)
- late 14c., originally compouned, past participle of compounen (see compound (v.)). Compound eye is attested from 1836; compound sentence is from 1772.
- compound (n.2)
- "a compound thing," mid-15c., from compound (adj.).
