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Compound, when applied to a humanhabitat, refers to a cluster ofbuildings in an enclosure, having a shared or associated purpose, such as the houses of an extended family (e.g. theKennedy Compound for theKennedy family). The enclosure may be awall, afence, ahedge or some other structure, or it may be formed by the buildings themselves, when they are built around an open area or joined together.

According to theOxford English Dictionary, the wordcompound in this sense is thought to be etymologically derived ultimately from theMalay-Indonesian wordkampung orkampong, meaning 'enclosure' or 'village', probably entering English via Dutch or Portuguese.^[1]

In theUnited Kingdom, "compound" is used in "storage compound",^[2] but not otherwise generally used in the sense of an unfortified enclosure, and not for homes. There, as inNorth American English, if used for a place, it is most likely to be taken to mean a fortifiedmilitary compound. The unfortified enclosure usage was developed by theBritish Empire inAsia andAfrica. Now it has slightly different meanings amongEnglish-speaking people on those continents:

• InAsia, it refers to a collection of business establishments or living quarters, especially those used byEuropeans.
• InAfrica, it used to mean a collection of workers' houses, but is now used for any cluster of related or linked homes, especially residences for members of the same family or those working for the same employer, or those belonging to a farm, or the cluster of houses known in Africa as ahomestead. The term can also be applied to an establishment such as aschool orbusiness, as in "the school compound" or "the factory compound". In theEnglish dialects of some African countries, "compound" may refer to a much larger collection of dwellings, as a synonym for a homogeneoustownship orsuburb comprising homes of similar character usually built aspublic housing projects, or for ashantytown. An example isChawama Compound,Lusaka, Zambia.

• Compound (fortification)
• Boma (enclosure)
• Kraal

• Human habitats
• Fences

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