Etymologically
Log in

compendo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 08:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔmˈpɛn.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [komˈpɛn.do][1]

Forms

compendō (present infinitive compendere); third conjugation, no perfect or supine stems[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin com- + pendō (“to weigh”), “to weigh together”.[2][3][1] De Vaan lists it among the compounds of pendō, which goes back to Proto-Italic *pend-e/o- (“to hang”) and Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend-e/-o- (“to spin”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only classical example is in Varro, who explains compendium, a saving, as that which becomes one when it is weighed together: compendium, quod cum compenditur, ūna fit.[2][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Varro's explanation ties the verb to compendium, which de Vaan lists beside it among the derivatives of the same verb.[2][4] The verb itself is very rare.[2][3] A medieval poem on the reckoning of time uses it of small weights that together make up a larger unit.[6] In Poland it was used in the sense “to weigh in the mind, decide”.[7] English compendium, “a short summary”, comes from the noun, literally “that which is weighed together”.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it to explain the noun compendium.[2][4][5]
  • 1580s – English borrows compendium, the noun Varro connected with it.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To weigh together, balance together.[2][3][9][10]
  2. (Medieval Latin) To make up together (an amount of weight).[6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To weigh in the mind, consider; to decide.[7]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.