- compound (v.)
- "to put together," late 14c., from O.Fr. compon(d)re "arrange, direct," from L. componere "to put together" (see composite). The -d appeared 1500s on model of expound, etc. The adj. is c.1400; compound eye is attested from 1836; compound sentence is from 1772. The noun meaning "a compound thing" is from 1530.
- compound (n.)
- 1679, from Du. (kampoeng) or Port., from Malay kampong "village, group of buildings." Spelling infl. bycompound (v.). Originally, "the enclosure for a factory or settlement of Europeans in the East," later used of S.African diamond miners' camps (1893), then of large fenced-in spaces generally (1946).