the.com/composting

means The practice of letting organic scraps decompose under controlled conditions until they break down into nutrient-rich soil.

from From Latin 'componere' — 'to put together' (com- 'together' + ponere 'to place'). The word traveled through Old French 'composte,' originally meaning a seasoned mixture or preserve of fruit — the same root that gives us 'compote,' that stewed-fruit dessert. The culinary and the horticultural senses are siblings: both describe things placed together to mellow, blend, and transform into something new. The gardening sense of a decaying mixture of organic matter took hold by the 1800s, borrowing the old idea of 'putting together' and applying it to rot rather than recipe.