Compile

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /kÉ™mpʌɪl/
• Rhymes: -aɪl

Origin

from Old French compiler (early 14c.), from Latin compilo ("heap, plunder")

Full definition of compile

Verb

1. (transitive) To put together; to assemble; to make by gathering things from various sources.Samuel Johnson compiled one of the most influential dictionaries of the English language.
2. (obsolete) To construct, build.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.3:Before that Merlin dyde, he did intend
  A brasen wall in compas to compyle
  About Cairmardin ....
3. (transitive, computing) To use a compiler to process source code and produce executable code.After I compile this program I'll run it and see if it works.
4. (intransitive, computing) To be successfully processed by a compiler into executable code.There must be an error in my source code because it won't compile.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To contain or comprise.
• SpenserWhich these six books compile.
6. (obsolete) To write; to compose.

Derived terms

• compiler, compilator

Noun

1. (computing) An act of compiling code.
• 1985, Robert A Stern, An Introduction to Computers and Information Processing...programming team managers assumed the "improved programs" produced through structured programming would not require as many compiles during development.
• 2007, Scott Meyers, Mike Lee, MAC OS X Leopard: Beyond the ManualAny file with an error or warning on it will be added to this smart group until the next compile.

Anagrams

• polemic