Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Compendium \Com*pen"di*um\, n.; pl. E. {Compendiums}, L.
   {Compendia}. [L. compendium that which is weighed, saved, or
   shortened, a short way, fr. compendere to weigh; com- +
   pendere to weigh. See {Pension}, and cf. {Compend}.]
   A brief compilation or composition, containing the principal
   heads, or general principles, of a larger work or system; an
   abridgment; an epitome; a compend; a condensed summary.

         A short system or compendium of a science. --I. Watts.

   Syn: See {Abridgment}.