compendium

C3O1M3P3E1N1D2I1U1M3
/kəmˈpɛn.di.əm/

noun

A short, complete summary; an abstract.

Similar
encyclopediacyclopediacollection
OriginLatin compendium →
Less commonScrabble 19
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Meanings

nouncompendium (plural compendiums or compendia)

plural compendiums · plural compendia

  1. A short, complete summary; an abstract.
  2. A list or collection of various items.

    It was this last variety which formed the backbone of the first published Italian compendium of games, Innocenzo Ringhieri's One Hundred Games of Liberality and Ingenuity of 1551, dedicated to Cathérine de' Medici.

    2008, Caroline Murphy, Murder of a Medici Princess, page 157
    1. A collection of board games packaged in a single box.
    2. pharmaceutical industryA collected body of information on the standards of strength, purity, and quality of drugs.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
encyclopediacyclopedia

nouna publication containing a variety of works

Similar
collection
Broader
publication
Also see
abridgmentabstractcollectionsumsummarytl;dr

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latincompendium“that which is weighed together; a sparing, a saving, an abbreviation”
  2. Englishcompendium

From the Latin compendium (“that which is weighed together; a sparing, a saving, an abbreviation”), from com- (“with”) + pendō (“to weigh”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian резюме, конспект
  • резюме (rezjume)short, complete summary
  • конспект (konspekt)short, complete summary
Catalan compendi
  • compendishort, complete summary
Dutch compendium
  • compendiumshort, complete summary
Esperanto kompendio
  • kompendioshort, complete summary
Finnish tiivistelmä
  • tiivistelmäshort, complete summary
French recueil, compendium
  • recueilshort, complete summary
  • compendiumshort, complete summary
German Kompendium
  • Kompendiumshort, complete summary
Greek επιτομή, σύνοψη
  • επιτομή (epitomí)short, complete summary
  • σύνοψη (sýnopsi)short, complete summary
Indonesian kompendium
  • kompendiumshort, complete summary
Italian compendio
  • compendioshort, complete summary
Japanese 大要, 要約
  • 大要 (taiyou)short, complete summary
  • 要約 (youyaku)short, complete summary
Māori mātāpunenga
  • mātāpunengashort, complete summary
Norwegian Bokmål kompendium
  • kompendiumshort, complete summary
Polish kompendium
  • kompendiumshort, complete summary
Romanian compendiu
  • compendiushort, complete summary
Russian конспе́кт, компе́ндиум
  • конспе́кт (konspékt)short, complete summary
  • компе́ндиум (kompéndium)short, complete summary
Spanish compendio
  • compendioshort, complete summary
Swahili mkusanyiko
  • mkusanyikoshort, complete summary
Swedish kompendium
  • kompendiumshort, complete summary
Vietnamese sơ lược, tóm lược
  • sơ lượcshort, complete summary
  • tóm lượcshort, complete summary
  • toát yếushort, complete summary
  • tập yếushort, complete summary
Cite this entry
APA

compendium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compendium

MLA

“compendium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compendium. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “compendium,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compendium.

Source: compendium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.