Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
compile - 4 dictionary results

com⋅pile

  [kuhm-pahyl]
Use compile in a Sentence
–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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To compile
com·pile   (kəm-pīl')   
tr.v.   com·piled, com·pil·ing, com·piles
  1. To gather into a single book.
  2. To put together or compose from materials gathered from several sources: compile an encyclopedia.
  3. 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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : compile
Spanish: compilar,
German: zusammenstellen,
Japanese: 編集する
More Translations »

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
Cite This Source
Search another word or see compile on Thesaurus | Reference
>