2580: compost Jan 6, 2022

Compost really should be called decompost. After all, the root 'compose' means 'to assemble; build up' and here it means exactly the opposite, insofar as it's decomposition. What might clarify things is the word 'compote', derived from a complicated arrangement of words and their associated meanings being borrowed back and forth between English and French meaning 'condiment'. In this sense, both related words describe a mixture of things into one, often amorphous creation.