Compound Words

A compound word is made when two words join to form a new word. 'Sun' and 'flower' come together to make 'sunflower'. 'Rain' and 'bow' make 'rainbow'. Compound words help us name new things easily. English is full of them.

Kinds of Compound Words

There are three main kinds of compound words. Closed compounds are written as one word, like 'bedroom'. Open compounds are written as two words, like 'ice cream'. Hyphenated compounds use a dash, like 'mother-in-law'. All three count as compound words. The kind depends on how people write them.

Guessing Meanings

Compound words are often easy to guess. A 'toothbrush' is a brush for your teeth. A 'firefly' is a little bug that glows like fire. But some compound words are tricky. A 'butterfly' is not made of butter. And a 'pineapple' is not a pine or an apple. Still, most compound words make sense.

Fun Facts

• The word 'bookworm' is a compound word meaning someone who loves reading.
• German has very long compound words, sometimes with more than 20 letters.
• 'Notebook' is a compound of 'note' and 'book'.

Did You Know?

New compound words are added to English all the time. Words like 'smartphone' and 'laptop' did not exist until new things were invented.