compact

Closely packed or densely constituted; having much material in a small volume.

Adjective

  1. Closely packed or densely constituted; having much material in a small volume.
    • glass, crystal, gems, and other compact bodies - 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […]...

    Synonyms: concentrated crowded dense serried

  2. Having all necessary features fitting neatly into a small space.
    • a compact laptop computer
  3. Brief and pithy; not verbose.
    • a compact discourse
  4. Of a topological space:

    Synonyms: quasi-compact

    1. Such that every open cover has a finite subcover. In a metric space, this is equivalent to being sequentially compact. In metric spaces with the Heine-Borel property, this is equivalent to being closed and bounded.

    2. Compact in the above sense and moreover Hausdorff.

  5. Joined or held together; leagued; confederated.
    • Thou fooliſh Frier, and thou pernicious woman / Compact with her that's gone: - c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […]...
    • a pipe of seven reeds, compact with wax together - 1622, Henry Peacham (Junior), The Compleat Gentleman:
  6. Composed or made; with of.
    • A wandering fire, / Compact of unctuous vapor. - 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias...

Origin

From Middle French compact, from Latin compāctus, perfect passive participle of compingō (“join together”), from com- (“together”) + pangō (“fasten”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to attach, fix, fasten”).

Forms

more compact compacter most compact compactest

Synonyms

close compact crowded dense solid thick tight

Antonyms

loose diffuse noncompact uncompact spaced out spread out

Hyponyms

concentrated serried tight-fitting packed rammed

Derived

cocompact compact audio cassette compact camera compact cassette compact disc compact disk compact executive car compact fluorescent lamp compactification compactify compactin compactization compactly compact neighbourhood compactness compacton compact space compact star decompact Hickson compact group hypercompact incompact locally compact locally compact group

Adjective archaic, not comparable

  1. Agreed, contracted.
    • O Gorice XI., most glorious King of Witchland, and O Lord Goldry Bluszco, captain of the hosts of Demonland, it is compact betwixt you, and made fast by mighty oaths whereof I, the Red Foliot, am keeper, that ye shall...

Origin

Etymology tree Latin compactumbor. English compact Borrowed from Latin compactum (“agreement”).

Synonyms

close compact crowded dense solid thick tight

Antonyms

loose diffuse noncompact uncompact spaced out spread out

Hyponyms

concentrated serried tight-fitting packed rammed

Noun Entry 3

  1. A slim folding case, often featuring a mirror, powder and a powder puff, small enough to fit in a woman's purse, handbag, or pocket.

    Synonyms: powder box

  2. An automobile that is larger than a subcompact but smaller than an intermediate.
  3. A broadsheet newspaper published in the size of a tabloid but keeping its non-sensational style.
    • The Dundee Courier has announced the newspaper will be relaunching as a compact later this week. Editor Richard Neville said a "brighter, bolder" paper would appear from Saturday, shrunk from broadsheet to tabloid size....

Forms

compacts

Derived

minicompact

Noun Entry 4

  1. An agreement or contract.
    • President Biden laid out an ambitious agenda on Wednesday night to rewrite the American social compact by vastly expanding family leave, child care, health care, preschool and college education for millions of people to...
    • After taking over this month as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan coalition of city mayors, he urged members to sign a “crypto compact” calling on the federal government to eschew overly...
    • Countering this in international media by offering more balanced views for a global audience is near impossible as censorship is rife. There almost seems to be a global compact to control the narrative, a propaganda war...

    Synonyms: agreement contract pact treaty

Forms

compacts

Derived

interstate compact social compact

Verb Entry 5

  1. To make more dense; to compress.
    • You need to excavate and remove the topsoil, line the subsoil with a geotextile, then lay and compact hardcore. - 2014 August 24, Jeff Howell, “Home improvements: gravel paths and cutting heating bills [print version:...
  2. To unite or connect firmly, as in a system.
    • The whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth. - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 4:16:

Forms

compacts compacting compacted

Synonyms

compress condense

Derived

compactable compactible precompact recompact uncompact

Verb Entry 6

  1. To form an agreement or contract.
    • In return for the sovereign's protection, they compacted to police the content of public literature. - 2004, Ronan Deazley, On the Origin of the Right to Copy, page 94:

Forms

compacts compacting compacted