Compilation

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kɒmpɪˈleɪʃən/

Definitions

1. A collection of items, such as songs, articles, or data, gathered from various sources and assembled into a single work
2. A collection formed by assembling diverse elements or works gathered from different sources into a cohesive whole
3. A purposeful assembly of various items, be it music, literature, or data, curated from multiple origins and presented as a unified entity

Etymology: The Latin root of "compilation" is "compilare," meaning to plunder or pillage, literally to rake or pile together. The Latin "compilatio" carried that same sense of gathering things up, and it could describe a plundering as readily as a collection of documents. The word's earliest uses in English retained some of that rough, appropriative flavour, as compilers often borrowed heavily from earlier writers without much ceremony. The English word is formed from "compile," which came from Latin, plus the suffix "-ation," which turns a verb into a noun for an action or its result. It passed into English through Middle French, so the verb and the noun both reached us along the same route. Over time the sense narrowed from the act of gathering and taking to the neutral product: a book or album assembled from existing material, such as an anthology of songs or a collection of extracts.

Synonyms: collection, anthology, compendium, aggregate, assemblage