Compound may refer to:

Architecture and built environments

* Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive structures * Compound (migrant labour), a hostel for migrant workers such as those historically connected with mines in South Africa * The Compound, an area of Palm Bay, Florida, US * Komboni or compound, a type of slum in Zambia

Government and law

* Composition (fine), a legal procedure in use after the English Civil War ** Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, an English Civil War institution that allowed Parliament to compound the estates of Royalists * Compounding treason, an offence under the common law of England * Compounding a felony, a previous offense under the common law of England

Linguistics

Compound (linguistics) In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or Sign language, sign) that consists of more than one Word stem, stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. C ...

, a word that consists of more than one radical element * Compound sentence (linguistics), a type of sentence made up of two or more independent clauses and no subordinate (dependent) clauses

Science, technology, and mathematics

Biology and medicine

* Compounding, the mixing of drugs in pharmacy * Compound fracture, a complete fractures of bone where at least one fragment has damaged the skin, soft tissue or surrounding body cavity * Compound leaf, a type of leaf being divided into smaller leaflets

Chemistry and materials science

Chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...

, combination of two or more elements * Plastic compounding, a method of preparing plastic formulations

Vehicles and engines

* Compound engine, a steam engine in which steam is expanded through a series of two or three cylinders before exhaust * Turbo-compound engine, an internal combustion engine where exhaust gases expand through power-turbines * Compounding pressure, a method in which pressure in a steam turbine is made to drop in a number of stages

Other uses in science, technology, and mathematics

* Compound bow, a type of bow for archery * Polyhedral compound, a polyhedron composed of multiple polyhedra sharing the same centre

Other uses

Common names

* Compound (music), an attribute of a time signature *

Compound interest Compound interest is interest accumulated from a principal sum and previously accumulated interest. It is the result of reinvesting or retaining interest that would otherwise be paid out, or of the accumulation of debts from a borrower. Compo ...

, in finance, unpaid interest that is added to the principal * Compound chocolate, an inexpensive chocolate substitute that uses cocoa but excludes cocoa butter

Proper names

* ''The Compound'' (book), a 2008 young adult novel by S. A. Bodeen * Compound (company), a venture capital firm previously known as Metamorphic Ventures * Eisenhuth Horseless Vehicle Company, or Compound, a former US automobile manufacturer