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A compendium is a concise, yet comprehensive compilation of a body of knowledge.

Source: Wikipedia

What then would I call an entry or item of knowledge that is contained by a compendium? Is there a general term for what a compendium is made up of?

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What's wrong with entry? – FumbleFingers Sep 8 '11 at 19:08
Nothing, that's what I ended up going with. Was just wondering if there was a term particularly associated with compendium. – Paul Bellora Sep 8 '11 at 19:12
oic. Well, with certain types of compendium, @ghoppe's article might suit, as might contribution. But as you've apparently already realised, there's no special generic word for entries in a compendium as opposed to in any other "unified" package of information. – FumbleFingers Sep 8 '11 at 19:33

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I think it would depend on what sort of compendium it is.

If it's a compilation of poems, each entry would obviously be a poem. It might be a compendium of books, writings, words, quotations, and any number of things.

The most generic or common term is the one you used: entry. I think for compendiums of knowledge the word article would also be common.

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Okay thanks - I was just wondering if there was a term specific to compendia but non-specific to whatever was compiled. – Paul Bellora Sep 8 '11 at 18:22

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