Meanings
plural compound words
- human sciencesA word composed of two or more stems.
A Compound Word, is that which is Compounded of two or more Words; as a Book-Seller, Compounded of Book and Seller; a Watch-man, of Watch and Man.
1700, A. Lane, A Key to the Art of Lettershttps://books.google.ccom/books?id=d81lAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA19&dq=%22compound+word%225 more examples
A word is a compound word when it is made up of two or more parts, each of which is a significant word by itself; as, apple-tree, tea-spoon, spend-thrift.
1858, Charles Peter Mason, English grammarhttps://books.google.com/books?id=XmoCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA74&dq=%22compound+word%22Thus it is found in English compound words, e.g. “elbow,” “rainbow,” “bow-net,” “bow-window,” “bow-knot,” “saddle-bow,” and by itself as the designation of a great variety of objects.
1911, “Bow”, in Encyclopædia BritannicaCompound words contrast with words built up by the use of affixes. Thus, for example, re-use, substandard, hyperventilate, prehistoric and pro-communist woud not usually be counted as compound words ...
1994, James R. Hurford, Grammar: A Student's Guidehttps://books.google.com/books?id=ZaBKd8pT6kgC&pg=PA43&dq=%22compound+words%22Some important vocabulary words your child needs to study are compound words. A compound word is made when two words are joined together to form a new word. For example, the word rainbow is made using the words rain and bow.
2014, Kelly Hackett, Compound Words--Banana Splits Literacy CenterAs stated above, compound words are formed by joining two words into one word. Some compound words retain elements of the meanings of the two words. Examples include sunlight, flagpole, flying fish, and bridge-builder.
2018, Dale D. Johnson, Words: The Foundation of Literacyhttps://books.google.com/books?id=Jx9WDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT40&dq=%22compound+words%22Synonyms: compound
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA word composed of two or more stems.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna word (as anthropology, kilocycle, builder) consisting of any of various combinations of words, combining forms, or affixes.
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bengali সমাস
- সমাস (śomaś)word composed of others
Bulgarian сло́жна ду́ма
- сло́жна ду́ма (slóžna dúma)word composed of others
Catalan compost
- compostword composed of others
Chinese Mandarin 複合詞 /复合词, 合成詞 /合成词
- 複合詞 /复合词 (fùhécí)word composed of others
- 合成詞 /合成词 (héchéngcí)word composed of others
Czech složenina
- složeninaword composed of others
Danish sammensat ord
- sammensat ordword composed of others
Dutch samenstelling
- samenstellingword composed of others
Esperanto kunmetaĵo
- kunmetaĵoword composed of others
Estonian liitsõna
- liitsõnaword composed of others
Finnish yhdyssana
- yhdyssanaword composed of others
French mot composé
- mot composéword composed of others
German Zusammensetzung, Kompositum
- Zusammensetzungword composed of others
- Kompositumword composed of others
Greek σύνθετη λέξη
- σύνθετη λέξη (sýntheti léxi)word composed of others
Hindi समास
- समास (samās)word composed of others
Hungarian összetétel, összetett szó
- összetételword composed of others
- összetett szóword composed of others
- szóösszetételword composed of others
Icelandic samsetning
- samsetningword composed of others
Indonesian kata majemuk
- kata majemukword composed of others
Irish comhfhocal
- comhfhocalword composed of others
Italian parola composta
- parola compostaword composed of others
Japanese 複合語, 合成語
- 複合語 (fukugōgo)word composed of others
- 合成語 (gōseigo)word composed of others
Korean 합성어, 복합어
- 합성어 (hapseong'eo)word composed of others
- 복합어 (bokhabeo)word composed of others
Lithuanian žodžių junginys
- žodžių junginysword composed of others
Malay kata majmuk
- kata majmukword composed of others
Māori kupu pūhui
- kupu pūhuiword composed of others
Norwegian Bokmål sammensetning, sammensatt ord
- sammensetningword composed of others
- sammensatt ordword composed of others
- kompositumword composed of others
Persian هَمساخته, اِسْمِ مُرَکَّب
- هَمساخته (hamsâxte)word composed of others
- اِسْمِ مُرَکَّب (esm-e morakkab)word composed of others
Polish złożenie
- złożenieword composed of others
Portuguese palavra composta
- palavra compostaword composed of others
Romanian cuvânt compus
- cuvânt compusword composed of others
Russian сло́жное сло́во
- сло́жное сло́во (slóžnoje slóvo)word composed of others
Scottish Gaelic facal fillte
- facal fillteword composed of others
Slovak zloženina, kompozitum
- zloženinaword composed of others
- kompozitumword composed of others
- zložené slovoword composed of others
Spanish palabra compuesta
- palabra compuestaword composed of others
Swedish sammansättning, sammansatt ord
- sammansättningword composed of others
- sammansatt ordword composed of others
Tagalog salitang tambalan, tambalan
- salitang tambalanword composed of others
- tambalanword composed of others
Tamil புணர்மொழி, சேர்மச்சொல்
- புணர்மொழி (puṇarmoḻi)word composed of others
- சேர்மச்சொல் (cērmaccol)word composed of others
- தொடர்மொழி (toṭarmoḻi)word composed of others
Thai สมาส, คำประสม
- สมาส (sà-màat)word composed of others
- คำประสม (kam-bprà-sǒm)word composed of others
- คำผสม (kam-pà-sǒm)word composed of others
Turkish birleşik sözcük, birleşik kelime
- birleşik sözcükword composed of others
- birleşik kelimeword composed of others
Ukrainian складне́ сло́во
- складне́ сло́во (skladné slóvo)word composed of others
Vietnamese từ ghép
- từ ghépword composed of others
Welsh cyfansoddair, gair cyfansawdd
- cyfansoddairword composed of others
- gair cyfansawddword composed of others
Cite this entry
compound word. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compound%20word
“compound word.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compound%20word. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “compound word,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compound%20word.
Source: compound word on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.