Heteronym
"Compound" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say KOM-pownd when it means a mixture, or an enclosed area (noun), and kum-POWND when it means to make worse, or combine (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
KOM-pownd
a mixture, or an enclosed area
“The chemical is a compound.”
verb
kum-POWND
to make worse, or combine
“Stress will compound the issue.”
Each button speaks the respelling, not the spelling — otherwise the speech engine would pick a single default pronunciation for both senses.
| Pronunciation | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| KOM-pownd | noun | a mixture, or an enclosed area |
| kum-POWND | verb | to make worse, or combine |
"Compound" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say KOM-pownd when it means a mixture, or an enclosed area (noun), and kum-POWND when it means to make worse, or combine (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced KOM-pownd, "compound" is a noun meaning a mixture, or an enclosed area. For example: "The chemical is a compound."
Pronounced kum-POWND, "compound" is a verb meaning to make worse, or combine. For example: "Stress will compound the issue."
"Compound" is a heteronym: two distinct words that happen to be spelled the same way. English spelling did not standardise around pronunciation, so unrelated words sometimes converged on one spelling while keeping separate sounds.
See the full entry for “compound”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.