Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: French
Origin: compromis, from Latin compromissum 'joint promise', from compromittere, from com- ( COM-) + promittere ( PROMISE2)

compromise

1 noun
     
com‧pro‧mise1
1 [uncountable and countable] an agreement that is achieved after everyone involved accepts less than what they wanted at first, or the act of making this agreement:
Compromise is an inevitable part of marriage.
To stop the argument they decided on a compromise.
compromise with
Fresh attempts at compromise with the legislature were also on the agenda.
compromise between
a compromise between government and opposition
If moderates fail to reach a compromise, the extremists will dominate the agenda.
Be prepared to make compromises.
2 [countable] a solution to a problem in which two things or situations are changed slightly so that they can exist together
compromise between
a happy compromise between the needs of family and work
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary