COMPOUND (4)

Com″pound (?), a. [[OE. compouned, p. p. of compounen. See Compound, v. t.]] Composed of two or more elements, ingredients, parts; produced by the union of several ingredients, parts, or things; composite; as, a compound word. Compound substances are made up of two or more simple substances. I. Watts. Compound addition, subtraction, multiplication, division (Arith.), the addition, subtraction, etc., of compound numbers. — Compound crystal (Crystallog.), a twin crystal, or one seeming to be made up of two or more crystals combined according to regular laws of composition. — Compound engine (Mech.), a form of steam engine in which the steam that has been used in a high-pressure cylinder is made to do further service in a larger low-pressure cylinder, sometimes in several larger cylinders, successively. — Compound ether. (Chem.) See under Ether. — Compound flower (Bot.), a flower head resembling a single flower, but really composed of several florets inclosed in a common calyxlike involucre, as the sunflower or dandelion. — Compound fraction. (Math.) See Fraction. — Compound fracture. See Fracture. — Compound householder, a householder who compounds or arranges with his landlord that his rates shall be included in his rents. — Compound interest. See Interest. — Compound larceny. (Law) See Larceny. — Compound leaf (Bot.), a leaf having two or more separate blades or leaflets on a common leafstalk. — Compound microscope. See Microscope. — Compound motion. See Motion. — Compound number (Math.), one constructed according to a varying scale of denomination; as, 3 cwt., 1 qr., 5 lb.; — called also denominate number. — Compound pier (Arch.), a clustered column. — Compound quantity (Alg.), a quantity composed of two or more simple quantities or terms, connected by the sign + (plus) or - (minus). Thus, a + b - c, and bb - b, are compound quantities. — Compound radical. (Chem.) See Radical. — Compound ratio (Math.), the product of two or more ratios; thus ab:cd is a ratio compounded of the simple ratios a:c and b:d. — Compound rest (Mech.), the tool carriage of an engine lathe. — Compound screw (Mech.), a screw having on the same axis two or more screws with different pitch (a differential screw), or running in different directions (a right and left screw). — Compound time (Mus.), that in which two or more simple measures are combined in one; as, 6-8 time is the joining of two measures of 3-8 time. — Compound word, a word composed of two or more words; specifically, two or more words joined together by a hyphen.