On Compound Words in Spanish

I think compound verbs are fun. Why, yes, I did enjoy studying German (where the word for glove is handschuh = hand-shoe), except when trying to read sociology articles (yikes, those were some very long words).

Spanish has some compound words, too. Many follow the pattern of combining the third-person singular of a verb with the plural of a noun. For example, cortalápices, the word for pencil sharpener, literally means "it sharpens pencils."

These words are generally masculine, even if the nouns they include are feminine (which I learned from About.com's Colorful Combinations, which also has a list of common and interesting compound words that follow this pattern). And the singular and plural forms are the same.

Here are some words from our book that follow this pattern:
* el cumpleaños = the birthday (lit. it fulfills years)
* el lavaplatos = the dishwasher (it washes dishes)
* el parabrisas = the windshield (it stops breezes; I always thought this was from "para" = for, not from "parar" = to stop)
* el paraguas = the umbrella (it stops water--it lost an "a" in there)
* el tocadiscos = the record player (it plays records)

Other useful ones:
* el abrelatas = the can opener
* el cascanueces = the nutcracker
* el cortacuitos = the circuit breaker
* el cuentakilómetros = the speedometer, odometer (it counts kilometers)
* el cuentapasos = the pedometer (it counts steps)
* el cuidaniños = the babysitter (he/she cares for children)
* el escurreplatos = the dish rack (it drains dishes)
* el guardarropas = the clothes closet (it keeps clothing; extra r for extra fun)
* el limpiaparabrisas = the windshield wiper (it cleans windshields; it cleans that which stops breezes)
* el matafuegos = the fire extinguisher (it kills fires)
* el matamoscas = the fly swatter (it kills flies)
* el matarratas = the rat poison (it kills rats)
* el matasellos = the postmark (it kills stamps, though we learned stamp as la estampilla)
* el pagaimpuestos = the taxpayer
* el parachoques = the bumper (it stops crashes)

Other fun ones from that list that I really like:
* el calientalibros = the bookworm (he/she warms books) (though SpanishDict says it's el ratón de biblioteca)
* el paracaídas = the parachute (it stops falls)
* el rompecabezas = the puzzle (it breaks heads)

This DuoLingo comment lists many kinds of compound words. Here are more from our book (and my guess at what the component words are):
* anteayer = the day before yesterday (ante = before, ayer = yesterday)
* la autopista = the highway (el auto = the car, la pista = the path)
* el baloncesto = the basketball (el balón = ball--though we learned la pelota, el cesto = basket)
* bienestar = well-being (bien = well, estar = to be)
* bienvenido = welcome (venido = come)
* el crucigrama = the crossword puzzle (cruzar = to cross, I don't understand the other half)
* la entrevista = the interview (entre = between, la vista = the view--that makes about as much sense as the English version)
* el girasol = the sunflower (girar = to turn, sol = sun; I thought all plants turned toward the sun, but English is similar)
* la medianoche = the midnight (I don't find that medio/a means mid, but it can mean median, noche = night)
* el mediodía = the noon (I always assumed this meant midday)
* la motocicleta = the motorcycle, motorbike (el motor = the motor, el ciclo = the cycle)
* nosotros, nosotras = we (nos = us, otros/otras = others)
* el pasaporte = the passport (pasar = to pass; I don't understand the other part)
* el pasatiempo = the hobby (pasar = to pass, tiempo = time)
* pelirrojo/a = red-haired (pelo = hair, rojo/a = red; wow, what happened to the spelling?)
* el terremoto = the earthquake (la tierra = land, earth; motor = motor; this looks like a pretty big spelling change, too)
* vosotros, vosotras = y'all (vos = you, thou; otros/as = others)

Spanish with Judith also has a nice list of Compound Words.