Compound words

When words are put together to yield a new meaning, they form a compound. Compound words can be written in three ways: as open compounds (ice cream, ), closed compounds (farmyard, doorknob), or hyphenated compounds (mid-range, long-term).

Compounds are a part of the language that is in constant flux so do not worry about them too much. They always start as separate words, however, so keep them separate if you are in doubt. Some of them grow together as their usage evolves.

A classic ETF example is the word policymaker that has gone through the iterations policy maker and policy-maker before ending where it should be today: policymaker.