Compilation comes from Old French compilation, from Latin compilationem, from compilare ('to plunder, collect'), from com- ('together') + pilare ('to plunder, press'). The historical trail runs through compilare in Latin and compilation in Old French. Morphologically, compilation is transparent: it draws on Old French compilation, from Latin compilationem, from compilare ('to plunder, collect'), from com- ('together') + pilare ('to plunder, press'). Used as a noun, compilation now means "a collection of items gathered together; the act of compiling", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as compile, compiler, and compiled. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.