compendium /kəmˈpendēəm/ I. noun 1. a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication. 2. a collection of things, especially one systematically gathered • the program is a compendium of outtakes from our archives. – origin late 16th cent.: from Latin,‘profit, saving’ (literally ‘what is weighed together’), from compendere, from com- ‘together’ + pendere ‘weigh.’
