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compendium

 [kuhm-pen-dee-uhm]   Example Sentences Origin

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, especially 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; < Latin: gain, saving, shortcut, abridgment, equivalent to com- com- + pend- (stem of pendere to cause to hang down, weigh) + -ium -ium

Synonyms
1. survey, digest, conspectus.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Compendium is a GRE word you need to know.
So is impassive. Does it mean:
devoid of emotion
quickness or keenness of perception or discernment
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Example Sentences
  • Duchin is a living compendium of a hundred years of social history.
  • Now a fondly compiled compendium of the nebulous world's facts and fancies redresses the balance.
  • Every page of this quirky compendium catalogs something fascinating, surprising, or serendipitous.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
compendium (kəmˈpɛndɪəm)
 
—n , pl -diums, -dia
1.  (Brit) a book containing a collection of useful hints
2.  (Brit) a selection, esp of different games or other objects in one container
3.  a concise but comprehensive summary of a larger work
 
[C16: from Latin: a saving, literally: something weighed, from pendere to weigh]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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