compiler
compiler Lexical Profile
compiler Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A computer program that translates source code written in a high-level programming language into lower-level machine code or bytecode that a computer's processor can execute.
"The software developer updated the compiler to optimize the application's performance and catch syntax errors early."
A person who collects, assembles, and arranges information, literary extracts, statistics, or other materials into a single volume, list, or reference work.
"As the chief compiler of the anthology, she spent two years selecting poems and biographical notes from nineteenth-century archives."
Word Nuance & Usage
In computer science, a compiler translates an entire source code program into executable machine code before execution, whereas an interpreter translates and executes code line by line at runtime.
• Rhymes for compiler
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the 14th century to describe an author who collects and arranges materials from various sources, deriving from Old French compiler and Latin compilare ('to plunder' or 'to pillage'). The computing sense was coined by pioneering computer scientist Grace Hopper in the early 1950s.