| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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8. Word Formation
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| d. Word Compounding |
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| A COMPOUND word is made up of two or more words that together express a single idea. There are three types of compounds. An open compound consists of two or more words written separately, such as salad dressing, Boston terrier, or April Fools’ Day. A hyphenated compound has words connected by a hyphen, such as age-old, mother-in-law, force-feed. A solid compound consists of two words that are written as one word, such as keyboard or typewriter. In addition, a compound may be classified as permanent or temporary. A permanent compound is fixed by common usage and can usually be found in the dictionary, whereas a temporary compound consists of two or more words joined by a hyphen as needed, usually to modify another word or to avoid ambiguity. In general, permanent compounds begin as temporary compounds that become used so frequently they become established as permanent compounds. Likewise many solid compounds begin as separate words, evolve into hyphenated compounds, and later become solid compounds. Although the dictionary is the first place to look when you are trying to determine the status of a particular compound, reference works do not always agree on the current evolutionary form of a compound, nor do they include temporary compounds. The following general rules apply to forming compounds. Keep in mind that words that are made up of a word root plus a prefix or a suffix are not normally considered compounds, strictly speaking. But for convenience we discuss them here since they are also sometimes hyphenated. | 1 |
Prefixes and Suffixes |
| Normally, prefixes and suffixes are joined with a second element without a hyphen, unless doing so would double a vowel or triple a consonant: antianxiety, anticrime, antiwar but anti-intellectual; childlike, taillike but bell-like. Even so, many common prefixes, such as co-, de-, pre-, pro-, and re-, are added without a hyphen although a double vowel is the result: coordinate, preeminent, reenter. | 2 |
| A hyphen is also used when the element following a prefix is capitalized or when the element preceding a suffix is a proper noun: anti-American, America-like. | 3 |
| The hyphen is usually retained in words that begin with all-, ex- (meaning “former”), half-, quasi- (in adjective constructions), and self-: all-around; ex-governor; half-life but halfhearted, halfpenny, halftone, halfway; quasi-scientific but a quasi success; self-defense but selfhood, selfish, selfless, selfsame. | 4 |
| Certain homographs require a hyphen to prevent mistakes in pronunciation and meaning: recreation (enjoyment), re-creation (new creation); release (to let go), re-lease (to rent again). | 5 |
When the Compound Is a Noun or Adjective |
| In order to avoid confusion, compound modifiers are generally hyphenated: fine-wine tasting, high-school teacher, hot-water bottle, minimum-wage worker, rare-book store, real-life experiences. If there is no possibility of confusion, or if the hyphen would look clumsy, omit the hyphen: bubonic plague outbreak, chemical engineering degree, temp agency employee. | 6 |
| When a noun that is an open compound is preceded by an adjective, the compound is often hyphenated to avoid confusion: wine cellar, damp wine-cellar; broom closet, tiny broom-closet; house cat, old house-cat. | 7 |
| Compound adjectives formed with high- or low- are generally hyphenated: high-quality programming, low-budget films. | 8 |
| Compound adjectives formed with an adverb plus an adjective or a participle are often hyphenated when they occur before the noun they modify: a well-known actor, an ill-advised move, best-loved poems, a much-improved situation, the so-called cure. However, when these compounds occur after the noun, or when they are modified, the hyphen is usually omitted: the actor is well known; an extremely well known actor. | 9 |
| If the adverb ends in -ly in an adverb-adjective compound, the hyphen is omitted: a finely tuned mechanism, a carefully worked canvas. | 10 |
| Compound adjectives formed with an adverb or a noun and a past participle are always hyphenated when they precede the noun they modify: well-kept secret, above-mentioned reason, helium-filled balloons, snow-capped mountains. Many compounds of this type have become permanent and are therefore hyphenated whether they precede or follow the noun they modify: a well-worn shirt, his shirt was well-worn; the tongue-tied winner, she remained tongue-tied. | 11 |
| Also hyphenate compound adjectives formed with an adjective and a noun to which -d or -ed has been added: yellow-eyed cat, fine-grained wood, many-tiered cake, stout-limbed toddler. Many of these compounds have become permanent hyphenated or solid compounds: middle-aged, old-fashioned, lightheaded, kindhearted. | 12 |
| Compound adjectives formed with a noun, adjective, or adverb and a present participle are hyphenated when the compound precedes the noun it modifies: a bone-chilling tale, two good-looking sons, long-lasting friendship. Many of these compounds have become permanent solid compounds: earsplitting, farseeing. Many other compounds have become permanent and are hyphenated whether they precede or follow the noun they modify: far-reaching consequences; the consequences are far-reaching. | 13 |
| Compound nouns formed with a noun and a gerund are generally open: crime solving, house hunting, trout fishing. Many of these compounds, however, have become permanent solid compounds: faultfinding, housekeeping. | 14 |
| Compound modifiers formed of capitalized words should not be hyphenated: Old English poetry, Iron Age manufacture, New World plants. | 15 |
| Usage is divided with regard to compounds that are proper names used to designate ethnic groups. Under normal circumstances such terms when used as nouns or adjectives should appear without a hyphen: a group of African Americans, many Native Americans, French Canadians in Boston, a Jewish American organization, an Italian American neighborhood, Latin American countries. However, many (but not all) compounds of this type are now frequently hyphenated: African-Americans, Asian-American families, French-Canadian music but Native American myths. | 16 |
| Nouns or adjectives consisting of a short verb combined with a preposition are either hyphenated or written solid depending on current usage. The same words used as a verb are written separately: a breakup but break up a fight; a bang-up job but bang up the car. | 17 |
| Two nouns of equal value are hyphenated when the person or thing is considered to have the characteristics of both nouns: secretary-treasurer, city-state, time-motion study. | 18 |
| Compound forms must reflect meaning. Consequently, some compounds may change in form depending on how they are used: Anyone may go but Any one of these will do; Everyone is here but Every one of these is good. | 19 |
| Scientific compounds are usually not hyphenated: carbon monoxide poisoning, dichromic acid solution. | 20 |
Phrases |
| Phrases used as modifiers are normally hyphenated: a happy-go-lucky person, a here-today-gone-tomorrow attitude. | 21 |
| A foreign phrase used as a modifier is not hyphenated: a bona fide offer, a per diem allowance. | 22 |
Numbers |
| Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and adjective compounds with a numerical first element (whether spelled out or written in figures) are hyphenated: twenty-one, thirty-first, second-rate movie, third-story window, three-dimensional figure, six-sided polygon, ten-thousand-year-old bones, 13-piece band, 19th-century novel, decades-old newspapers. | 23 |
| Spelled-out numbers used with -fold are not hyphenated; figures and -fold are hyphenated: tenfold, 20-fold. | 24 |
| Compounds of a number and -odd are hyphenated: four-odd, 60-odd. | 25 |
| A modifying compound consisting of a number and a possessive noun is not hyphenated: one week’s pay, hours’ work. | 26 |
| Fractions used as modifiers are hyphenated unless the numerator or denominator of the fraction contains a hyphen: three-eighths inch, twenty-four hundredths part; The pie was one-half eaten. Fractions used as nouns are usually not hyphenated: He ate one half of the pie. | 27 |
Color |
| Compound color adjectives are hyphenated: a red-gold sunset, a cherry-red sweater. | 28 |
| Color compounds whose first element ends in -ish are hyphenated when they precede the noun but should not be hyphenated when they follow the noun: a darkish-blue color, a reddish-gold sunset; The sky is reddish gold. | 29 |
| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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