compiler

[ kuhm-pahy-ler ]

noun

1. a person who compiles, or gathers things together.
2. Also called com·pil·ing rou·tine [k, uh, m-, pahy, -ling roo-teen]. Computers. a computer program that translates a program written in a high-level language into another language, usually machine language. Compare interpreter ( def 3a ).

compiler

/ kəmˈpaɪlə /

noun

1. a person who collects or compiles something
2. a computer program by which a high-level programming language, such as COBOL or FORTRAN, is converted into machine language that can be acted upon by a computer Compare assembler

compiler

/ kəm-pī′lər /

1. A computer program associated with certain programming languages that converts the instructions written in those languages into machine code that can later be executed directly by a computer.
2. See more at programming language

Other Words From

• pre·com·pil·er noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of compiler¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English compilour, from Anglo-French; Old French compileor, from Late Latin compīlātor; equivalent to compile + -er ²

Example Sentences

With the arrival in the early 1950s of program compilers—a technology and term invented by a woman—the workers became “coders,” a word reflecting a persistent misunderstanding of programming as something mechanistic, practically stenographic.

From MIT Technology Review

For what it’s worth, the compiler of this post disagrees with Neil and thinks the game will go over the total.

From Washington Post

Today, Cunard is best known as the compiler and publisher of Negro: An Anthology (1934).

From The Daily Beast

Jacobus, né Jacopo, was a 13th-century Genoan archbishop and compiler of what we might call Lies of the Saints.

From The Daily Beast

The obsessive compiler would then devote nearly three decades to his monumental American dictionary.

From The Daily Beast

The compiler remarks that "this trait does great honor to Theodoric's manner of thinking with respect to religion."

From Project Gutenberg

He was probably the author or compiler of the sacred books; and is said to have been the first who taught disciples.

From Project Gutenberg

The compiler of this work has rendered good service to all possessed of Christian sympathies.

From Project Gutenberg

The Mr. Hackluyt here mentioned is the industrious compiler of the well-known collection of early voyages.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet the alleged late compiler of the Odyssey, in the seventh century, never wanders thus from the Homeric standard in taste.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• connoisseur
• hobbyist