Compound may refer to:
- Chemical compounds, combinations of two or more elements
- Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall
- Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive structures
- Compound bow, a type of bow for archery
- Compound (linguistics), a word that consists of more than one radical element
- Compound (migrant labour), a hostel for migrant workers such as those historically connected with mines in South Africa
- Compound (music), an attribute of an interval or time signature
- Compounding, the mixing of drugs in pharmacy
- Polyhedral compound, a polyhedron composed of multiple polyhedra sharing the same centre of attention
Compound may also refer to:
- Compound chocolate, a chocolate substitute
- Compound fracture, complete fractures of bone where at least one fragment has damaged the skin, soft tissue or surrounding body cavity
- Compound interest, unpaid interest that is added to the principal so that subsequent interest is calculated on the grossed amount
- Compound engine, a steam engine in which steam is expanded through a series of two or three cylinders before exhaust.
- Turbo-compound engine, an internal combustion engine where exhaust gases expand through power-turbines
- Compound sentence (linguistics), a type of sentence made up of two or more independent clauses and no subordinate (dependent) clauses
- Compound, a former US automobile make with a unique compound gasoline engine; exhausts of 2 cylinders were expanded in a larger third one.
Famous quotes containing the word compound:
“He tries by a peculiar speech to speak
The peculiar potency of the general,
To compound the imagination’s Latin with
The lingua franca et jocundissima.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“Give a scientist a problem and he will probably provide a solution; historians and sociologists, by contrast, can offer only opinions. Ask a dozen chemists the composition of an organic compound such as methane, and within a short time all twelve will have come up with the same solution of CH4. Ask, however, a dozen economists or sociologists to provide policies to reduce unemployment or the level of crime and twelve widely differing opinions are likely to be offered.”
—Derek Gjertsen, British scientist, author. Science and Philosophy: Past and Present, ch. 3, Penguin (1989)
“Rammed me in with foul shirts and smocks, socks, foul stockings, greasy napkins, that, Master Brook, there was the rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)