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com⋅pen⋅di⋅um

   [kuhm-pen-dee-uhm]
–noun, plural -di⋅ums, -di⋅a  [-dee-uh] .
1. a brief treatment or account of a subject, esp. an extensive subject; concise treatise: a compendium of medicine.
2. a summary, epitome, or abridgment.
3. a full list or inventory: a compendium of their complaints.
Also, com⋅pend  [kom-pend] .

Origin:
1575–85; < L: gain, saving, shortcut, abridgment, equiv. to com- com- + pend- (s. of pendere to cause to hang down, weigh) + -ium -ium
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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com·pen·di·um     (kəm-pěn'dē-əm)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. com·pen·di·ums or com·pen·di·a (-dē-ə)
  1. A short, complete summary; an abstract.
  2. A list or collection of various items.

[Latin, a shortening, from compendere, to weigh together : com-, com- + pendere, to weigh; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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compendium 
1589, from L. compendium "a shortening, saving," lit. "that which is weighed together," from L. compendere "to weigh together," from com- "together" + pendere "to weigh" (see pendant).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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compendium

noun
1. a publication containing a variety of works [syn: collection] 
2. a concise but comprehensive summary of a larger work 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Compendium

Com*pen"di*um\, n.; pl. E. Compendiums, L. Compendia. [L. compendium that which is weighed, saved, or shortened, a short way, fr. compendere to weigh; com- + pendere to weigh. See Pension, and cf. Compend.] A brief compilation or composition, containing the principal heads, or general principles, of a larger work or system; an abridgment; an epitome; a compend; a condensed summary.

A short system or compendium of a science. --I. Watts.

Syn: See Abridgment.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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