compact
noun/ˈkɒmpækt/
/ˈkɑːmpækt/
- (North American English) a small car compare subcompactTopics Transport by car or lorryc2
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- a small flat box with a mirror, containing powder that women use on their faces
- (formal) a formal agreement between two or more people or countries
- The government has signed a compact of free association.
- The support will continue under a compact which runs until 2010.
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 2 late Middle English: from Latin compact- ‘closely put together, joined’, from the verb compingere, from com- ‘together’ + pangere ‘fasten’. noun sense 3 late 16th cent.: from Latin compactum, past participle of compacisci, from com- ‘with’ + pacisci ‘make a covenant’. Compare with pact.
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