English
compound
Compound may come from Malay kampung ‘group of buildings, village’.
- Malaymodernkampungas kampong‘group of buildings, village’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1960compound
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Malaymodernkampungas kampong‘group of buildings, village’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1960compound
Earliest quotation: 1960, New Signalbox at Manchester Victoria: “A separate building on the west side will house…”
The story
Possibly from Malay kampong, kampung (‘group of buildings, village’), via Dutch or Portuguese, altered under the influence of Etymology 2.
Linked words
through Malay kampung ‘group of buildings, village’
Another origin of compound
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tḱey-‘to cultivate’root as named
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomponō
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600componre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500compounen
- Englishtodaycompound
Today it means
noun An enclosure within which workers, prisoners, or soldiers are confined.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Malay kampung / compound