[mseebach]

There's also the etymology, ie. the pre-computing dictionary definition: you compile eg. a list, ie. make something smaller/shorter from a larger input. You also write a book when it's an original work, but another author or editor might take parts of yours and other books and compile an anthology. You might translate a book from one language to another, but that's not considered a compilation.

[kqr]

I've always been under the impression that compile means "put together" rather than "compress".

[e12e]

Webster lists in part:

Compiler: one who compiles - first use 14th century

And for compile:

transitive verb

1 : to compose out of materials from other documents

2 : to collect and edit into a volume

3 : to build up gradually <compiled a record of four wins and two losses>

Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French compiler, from Latin compilare to plunder.

Synonyms: anthologize, collect

Note, I've skipped the dictionary references to computer use, as the seem overly (wrongly) focused on "top down" compilation...

[tom_mellior]

It does: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/compile