Definition
Compound event
A compound event combines two or more outcomes, conditions, or stages of a chance process.
What it means
A compound event joins smaller chance ideas. It might ask for one condition and another, one condition or another, or results from more than one stage. Listing the sample space carefully prevents missing or double-counting outcomes.
Remember it
Build the big event by joining smaller event rules or chance stages.
Example
Choose a number card from 1 to 8. The compound event “even or greater than 5” is {2, 4, 6, 7, 8}. The numbers 6 and 8 satisfy both conditions, but each outcome is counted once.
Watch for
“Roll a 4” is a simple event in one die roll; “roll an even number or a number above 4” combines conditions and is compound.
Common mix-up
Compound does not mean difficult. It means the event is built from more than one outcome, condition, or stage.
Exact meaning
A compound event is formed from two or more outcomes or simpler events, often joined by “and” or inclusive “or”, or produced across repeated stages. Its outcomes can be represented with an organized list, table, Venn diagram, tree diagram, or simulation.