What is the Latin word for compile?

The usual Latin words for “compile” are excerpō, exscrībō, ēligō; also scrīptor, cōnfundō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“compile” in Latin

excerpōto choose, select (pick out)exscrībōto write out or off, copy; to write or note down; to take after, resemble ēligōto choose, to pluck or root out, extract; to pick out, choose, elect scrīptorwriter, author; scribe cōnfundōto pour, mingle, stir up; to diffuse, suffuse, spread over; to unite, mix together, join, combine, mingle

The English word compile itself goes back to Latin pīlō, through compīlō.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

compile

aliorum scrinia or sapientiam compilare (after Hor., Sat: 1, 1, 121; Cic., Mur., 11, 25): excerpere (to make an extract from a writing): exscribere (to write out; e.g., passages from a book): eligere (choice passages): perhaps *librum e pluribus (scriptoribus) confundere (after Cic., oratio a pluribus confusa, Cic., Brut., 26, 100; to which several persons have contributed portions).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for compile?: The usual Latin words for “compile” are excerpō, exscrībō, ēligō; also scrīptor, cōnfundō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.