Question:medium

Choose the correct synonym out of the four choices given.
Compendium

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The Latin root means a saving or a shortcut. The word points to a large subject boiled down to its essentials, not just a pile of items.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
  • summary
  • index
  • reference
  • collection
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Two of the four choices, "summary" and "collection", both look defensible for "compendium", so this question turns on which sense is the defining one. Handling it properly means going back to what the word literally says.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Split the word: "com" (together) plus "pendere" (to weigh). The Latin noun "compendium" meant a saving or a shortcut, literally a weighing together. English kept that core: the point of a compendium is that a great deal has been cut down into a little. So test each option for the idea of shortening, not just gathering.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
"Index" fails at once. An index is a finding aid, a list of headwords and page numbers. It holds no content of its own, so it cannot stand in for a shortened treatise.
"Reference" fails too. It names the act of citing or consulting a source. It is not a document type, so it cannot be a synonym for a compendium.
"Collection" is the real distractor. Many compendiums do gather several works, and dictionaries do list "a collection of concise but detailed information" among the senses. But "collection" on its own says only that things have been brought together. A shoebox of stamps is a collection and nobody would call it a compendium. The shortening idea is missing.
"Summary" keeps the shortening idea, which is the part the Latin root insists on. A compendium of world history is a summary of world history.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Since the root meaning is about condensing rather than gathering, the best synonym is option (A), summary.
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