- a person who collects or compiles something
- a computer program by which a high-level programming language, such as COBOL or FORTRAN, is converted into machine language that can be acted upon by a computer
Compare assembler
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
com•pil•er
(kəm pī′lər),USA pronunciation n.
- a person who compiles.
- ComputingAlso called compil′ing routine′. a computer program that translates a program written in a high-level language into another language, usually machine language. Cf. interpreter (def. 3a).
- Late Latin compīlātōr-. See compile, -er2
- Anglo-French; Old French compileor
- Middle English compilour 1300–50
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
compiler /kəmˈpaɪlə/ n
'compiler' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
assembler
- Bailey
- Brentano
- Caro
- compile
- Cruden
- Fowler
- object program
- source program
- statement
- author
- author catalog
- comp
- encyclopedist
- interpreter
- lexicographer
- liturgist
- Mandeville
- object code
- source code
- statistician
- system program