Compendious

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Brief yet comprehensive, presenting essential information in a concise and condensed manner
2. Containing much information in few words, summarizing extensive material into a compact form
3. Expressing a large amount of subject matter succinctly without sacrificing completeness or accuracy

Etymology: "Compendious" arrived in English from Old French "compendieux," which in turn descends from the Latin "compendiosus," meaning "advantageous" or "abridged." The Latin root is "compendium," a word that originally meant a saving or a shortcut, something that gained time or money. Its literal sense was closer to "a weighing together," from "com-" (together) and "pendere" (to weigh), so a compendium was something gathered up and made lighter. That sense of saving carried into the adjective. A compendious account was one that said a great deal in little space, so the word kept the idea of economy: packing a whole subject into a compact form without losing what matters. The "brief but complete" meaning reflects this closely, since the value lies in the efficiency rather than in leaving things out.

Synonyms: concise, brief, succinct, summary, abridged

Antonyms: verbose, lengthy, expansive, wordy