compendium

noun

com·​pen·​di·​um kəm-ˈpen-dē-əm How to pronounce compendium (audio)
plural compendiums or compendia kəm-ˈpen-dē-ə How to pronounce compendium (audio)
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

Examples of compendium in a Sentence

a one-volume compendium of information He published a compendium of folk tales.
Recent Examples on the Web An interesting compendium of exhibits, including Nixon’s birthplace and gravesite, information about his resignation and changing exhibits on various subjects. Marla Jo Fisher, Orange County Register, 25 Feb. 2024 Critics in Israel also dismissed the outline as a compendium of ideas that have already been rejected by the international community and Israel’s most important backers. Steve Hendrix, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024 Below is a compendium of new Italian movies set to hit this year’s fest circuit. Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 17 Feb. 2024 In this indispensable compendium, 29 leading experts, including many young Cuban scholars, delve deeply into this precipitous disintegration. Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 There were cocktail sets for the traveling drinker (or the drinking traveler), compendiums that included cigarette cases, lighters, clocks, and pill boxes, and, since 1930, exquisite writing instruments produced by the Japanese lacquer specialist Namiki. Paul Croughton, Robb Report, 17 Feb. 2024 Which means another edition of the Gold List, Traveler's annual compendium of our editors' favorite hotels and cruises, our 30th time doing it. Jesse Ashlock, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Dec. 2023 Art and design lovers have almost too many options to choose from, including guides on curating interiors and compendiums on movements like Afrofuturism and artists like Diane Arbus. Jake Smith, Glamour, 4 Dec. 2023 Yet a comprehensive review of the Mayor’s Management Report, a 520-page compendium packed with statistics about the city’s performance during Mr. Adams’s tenure, shows that services elsewhere are sliding, and perhaps none more glaringly than those serving the city’s most disadvantaged residents. Emma G. Fitzsimmons, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'compendium.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of compendium was in 1589

Dictionary Entries Near compendium

Cite this Entry

“Compendium.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compendium. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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