Compile definition | Dictionary.com

com⋅pile

[kuh

m-pahyl]

–verb (used with object), -piled, -pil⋅ing.

1.	to put together (documents, selections, or other materials) in one book or work.

2.	to make (a book, writing, or the like) of materials from various sources: to compile an anthology of plays; to compile a graph showing changes in profit.

3.	to gather together: to compile data.

4.	Computers. to translate (a computer program) from a high-level language into another language, usually machine language, using a compiler.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME < L compīlāre to rob, pillage, steal from another writer, equiv. to com- com- + -pīlāre, perh. akin to pīla column, pier, pile ¹ , pīlāre to fix firmly, plant (hence, pile up, accumulate)

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : Compile

Spanish:

compilar,

German:

zusammenstellen,

Japanese:

編集する

View 30 other languages »

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com·pile (kəm-pīl') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. com·piled, com·pil·ing, com·piles

To gather into a single book.
To put together or compose from materials gathered from several sources: compile an encyclopedia.
Computer Science To translate (a program) into machine language.

[Middle English compilen, from Old French compiler, probably from Latin compīlāre, to plunder : com-, com- + pīla, heap (of stones), pillar.]

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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compile

early 14c., from O.Fr. compiler, from L. compilare "to snatch together, plunder, heap," from com- "together" + pilare "to compress, ram down."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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compile
verb
1.	get or gather together; "I am accumulating evidence for the man's unfaithfulness to his wife"; "She is amassing a lot of data for her thesis"; "She rolled up a small fortune" [syn: roll up]
2.	put together out of existing material; "compile a list" [syn: compose]
3.	use a computer program to translate source code written in a particular programming language into computer-readable machine code that can be executed

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Compile

Com*pile"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Compiling.] [F. compiler, fr.L. compilare to plunder, pillage; com- + pilare to plunder. See Pill, v. t., Pillage.]

1. To put together; to construct; to build. [Obs.]

Before that Merlin died, he did intend A brazen wall in compass to compile. --Spenser.

2. To contain or comprise. [Obs.]

Which these six books compile. --Spenser.

3. To put together in a new form out of materials already existing; esp., to put together or compose out of materials from other books or documents.

He [Goldsmith] compiled for the use of schools a History of Rome. --Macaulay.

4. To write; to compose. [Obs.] --Sir W. Temple.