Etymology From Middle English compost, from Old Northern French compost (“a mixture of leaves, manure, etc., for fertilizing land, also a condiment”), from Latin compositus (“composed”), from componere. Doublet of compote, which was taken from modern French, composite, and kompot.
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The decayed remains of organic matter that has rotted into a natural fertilizer.
Dig plenty of compost into clay or sandy soil to improve its structure.
And do not spread the compost on the weeds / To make them ranker.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
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[T]he very wet winter will have washed much of the goodness out of the soil. Homemade compost and the load of manure we get from a friendly farmer may not be enough to compensate for what has leached from the ground.2014 April 21, Mary Keen, “You can still teach an old gardener new tricks: Even the hardiest of us gardeners occasionally learn useful new techniques [print version: Gardening is always ready to teach even the hardiest of us a few new tricks, 19 April 2014]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), page G7:
Once the seed tray is filled with compost, insert the seeds spaced 3 cm apart from one another.
[T]he term 'compost' is commonly used to mean the material used to fill pots, seed trays and containers.Royal Horticultural Society, Organic matter: what is it?, retrieved 29 Mar 2021:
Etymology From Middle English compost, from Old Northern French compost (“a mixture of leaves, manure, etc., for fertilizing land, also a condiment”), from Latin compositus (“composed”), from componere. Doublet of compote, which was taken from modern French, composite, and kompot.
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To produce compost, let organic matter decay into fertilizer.
If you compost your grass clippings, you can improve your soil.