compact 1
— compactedly , adv. — compactedness , n. — compactly , adv. — compactness , n.
adj. /keuhm pakt", kom-, kom"pakt/ ; v. /keuhm pakt"/ ; n. /kom"pakt/ , adj.
1. joined or packed together; closely and firmly united; dense; solid: compact soil.
2. arranged within a relatively small space: a compact shopping center; a compact kitchen.
3. designed to be small in size and economical in operation.
4. solidly or firmly built: the compact body of a lightweight wrestler.
5. expressed concisely; pithy; terse; not diffuse: a compact review of the week's news.
6. composed or made (usually fol. by of ): a book compact of form and content.
7. Also, bicompact . Math. (of a set) having the property that in any collection of open sets whose union contains the given set there exists a finite number of open sets whose union contains the given set; having the property that every open cover has a finite subcover.
v.t.
8. to join or pack closely together; consolidate; condense.
9. to make firm or stable.
10. to form or make by close union or conjunction; make up or compose.
11. Metall. to compress (metallic or metallic and nonmetallic powders) in a die to be sintered.
12. to crush into compact form for convenient disposal or for storage until disposal: to compact rubbish.
n.
13. a small case containing a mirror, face powder, a puff, and sometimes rouge.
14. Also called compact car . an automobile that is smaller than an intermediate but larger than a subcompact and generally has a combined passenger and luggage volume of 100-110 cu. ft. (2.8-3.1 m 3 ).
15. Metall. (in powder metallurgy) an object to be sintered formed of metallic or of metallic and nonmetallic powders compressed in a die.
[ 1375-1425; late ME compactus (ptp. of compingere to shut away, bind together), equiv. to com- COM- + pag-, var. s. of pangere to fix, arrange (akin to pax PEACE; cf. PACT, COMPACT 2 ) + -tus ptp. suffix ]
Syn. 2. small, snug. 5. concise, succinct, brief. 8. compress. 9. stabilize, solidify.
compact 2
/kom"pakt/ , n.
a formal agreement between two or more parties, states, etc.; contract: the proposed economic compact between Germany and France.
[ 1580-90; compactum, compectum, n. use of neut. of compactus (ptp. of compacisci to make an agreement), equiv. to com- COM- + pac- (s. of pacisci to secure by negotiation, akin to pax settlement ending hostilities, PEACE) + -tus ptp. ending ]
Syn . treaty, pact, entente, convention, concordat. See agreement .