Compact definition | Dictionary.com

Synonyms

close, crowded, dense, packed, tight, epigrammatic, chunky, dumpy, squat, stodgy, stubby, thick

More Synonyms»

Nearby Entries

Compact - 13 dictionary results

Sponsored Links Compact
Shop the official Jay Strongwater site for compacts.
www.JayStrongwater.com

Engraved Silver Compacts
Buy Engraved Silver Compacts Online Special Offer. Buy 2 Get 1 Free!
MonogrammedGifts.com

Compact Flash Card Sale
2GB CF only $25, 4GB $35, 1GB $19 Free Shipping and 30 Day Money Back
CompactFlash.MemorySuppliers.com

com⋅pact

1 [adj. kuh

m-pakt, kom-, kom-pakt; v. kuh

m-pakt; n. kom-pakt]

–adjective

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. Mathematics. (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.

–verb (used with object)

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.	Metallurgy. 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.

–noun

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 m³).

15.	Metallurgy. (in powder metallurgy) an object to be sintered formed of metallic or of metallic and nonmetallic powders compressed in a die.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME < L compāctus (ptp. of compingere to shut away, bind together), equiv. to com- com- + pag-, var. s. of pangere to fix, arrange (akin to pāx peace; cf. pact, compact ² ) + -tus ptp. suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Language Translation for : Compact

Spanish:

compacto,

German:

kompakt,

Japanese:

小さく整った

View 30 other languages »

Sponsored Links Compact
Shop the official Jay Strongwater site for compacts.
www.JayStrongwater.com

Engraved Silver Compacts
Buy Engraved Silver Compacts Online Special Offer. Buy 2 Get 1 Free!
MonogrammedGifts.com

Compact Flash Card Sale
2GB CF only $25, 4GB $35, 1GB $19 Free Shipping and 30 Day Money Back
CompactFlash.MemorySuppliers.com

com⋅pact

2 [kom-pakt]

–noun

a formal agreement between two or more parties, states, etc.; contract: the proposed economic compact between Germany and France.

Origin:
1580–90; < L compactum, compectum, n. use of neut. of compactus (ptp. of compacīscī to make an agreement), equiv. to com- com- + pac- (s. of pacīscī to secure by negotiation, akin to pāx settlement ending hostilities, peace ) + -tus ptp. ending

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Cite This Source

com·pact¹ (kəm-pākt', kŏm-, kŏm'pākt') Pronunciation Key
adj.

Closely and firmly united or packed together; dense: compact clusters of flowers.
Occupying little space compared with others of its type: a compact camera; a compact car.
Brief and to the point; concise: a compact narration.
Marked by or having a short solid physique: a wrestler of compact build.

v. (kəm-pākt') com·pact·ed, com·pact·ing, com·pacts

v. tr.

To press or join firmly together: a kitchen device that compacted the trash.
1. To make by pressing or joining together; compose.
2. To consolidate; combine.

v. intr.
To be capable of being pressed tightly together or to become so pressed: garbage that compacts easily.
n. (kŏm'pākt')

A small case containing a mirror, pressed powder, and a powder puff.
An automobile that is bigger in size than a subcompact but smaller than an intermediate.

[Middle English, from Latin compāctus, past participle of compingere, to put together : com-, com- + pangere, to fasten; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]
com·pact'ly adv., com·pact'ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

com·pact² (kŏm'pākt') Pronunciation Key
n. An agreement or a covenant. See Synonyms at bargain.

[Latin compactum, neuter past participle of compacīscī, to make an agreement : com-, com- + pacīscī, to agree; see pact.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

compact (adj.)

1398, from L. compactus "concentrated," pp. of compingere "to fasten together," from com- "with, together" + pangere "to fix, fasten." The noun meaning "make-up case" first recorded 1921, based on its containing compacted face powder; compact car is 1960. Compact disc is from 1979.

compact (n.)

"agreement," 1591, from L. compactum, pp. of compacisci "come to agreement," from com- "together" + pacisci "to covenant, contract" (see pact).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

compact
adjective
1.	closely and firmly united or packed together; "compact soil"; "compact clusters of flowers" [ant: loose]
2.	having a short and solid form or stature; "a wrestler of compact build"; "he was tall and heavyset"; "stocky legs"; "a thickset young man"
3.	briefly giving the gist of something; "a short and compendious book"; "a compact style is brief and pithy"; "succinct comparisons"; "a summary formulation of a wide-ranging subject" [syn: compendious]
noun
1.	a small cosmetics case with a mirror; to be carried in a woman's purse
2.	a signed written agreement between two or more parties (nations) to perform some action [syn: covenant]
3.	a small and economical car
verb
1.	have the property of being packable or of compacting easily; "This powder compacts easily"; "Such odd-shaped items do not pack well"
2.	compress into a wad; "wad paper into the box" [syn: pack]
3.	make more compact by or as if by pressing; "compress the data" [syn: compress] [ant: decompress]
4.	squeeze or press together; "she compressed her lips"; "the spasm contracted the muscle" [syn: compress]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Cite This Source

Main Entry: com·pact
Pronunciation: k&m-'pakt, käm-', 'käm-"
Function: adjective
: having a dense structure without small cavities orcells <compact bone> —compare CANCELLOUS

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source

compact
1. (Or "finite", "isolated") In domain theory, an element d of a cpo D is compact if and only if, for any chain S, a subset of D,
d <= lub S => there exists s in S such that d <= s.
I.e. you always reach d (or better) after a finite number of steps up the chain.
("<=" is written in LaTeX as sqsubseteq).
[The Jargon File]
(1995-01-13)
2. Of a design, describes the valuable property that it can all be apprehended at once in one's head. This generally means the thing created from the design can be used with greater facility and fewer errors than an equivalent tool that is not compact. Compactness does not imply triviality or lack of power; for example, C is compact and Fortran is not, but C is more powerful than Fortran. Designs become non-compact through accreting features and cruft that don't merge cleanly into the overall design scheme (thus, some fans of Classic C maintain that ANSI C is no longer compact).
(1995-01-13)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source

compact

adj. Of a design, describes the valuable property that it can all be apprehended at once in one's head. This generally means the thing created from the design can be used with greater facility and fewer errors than an equivalent tool that is not compact. Compactness does not imply triviality or lack of power; for example, C is compact and FORTRAN is not, but C is more powerful than FORTRAN. Designs become non-compact through accreting features and cruft that don't merge cleanly into the overall design scheme (thus, some fans of Classic C maintain that ANSI C is no longer compact).

Jargon File 4.2.0
Cite This Source

Compact

Com*pact"\ (k[o^]m*p[a^]kt"), p. p. & a [L. compactus, p. p. of compingere to join or unite; com- + pangere to fasten, fix: cf. F. compacte. See Pact.]

1. Joined or held together; leagued; confederated. [Obs.] "Compact with her that's gone." --Shak.

A pipe of seven reeds, compact with wax together. --Peacham.

2. Composed or made; -- with of. [Poetic]

A wandering fire, Compact of unctuous vapor. --Milton.

3. Closely or firmly united, as the particles of solid bodies; firm; close; solid; dense.

Glass, crystal, gems, and other compact bodies. --Sir I. Newton.

4. Brief; close; pithy; not diffuse; not verbose; as, a compact discourse.

Syn: Firm; close; solid; dense; pithy; sententious.

Compact

Com*pact"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compacted; p. pr. & vb. n. Compacting.]

1. To thrust, drive, or press closely together; to join firmly; to consolidate; to make close; -- as the parts which compose a body.

Now the bright sun compacts the precious stone. --Blackstone.

2. To unite or connect firmly, as in a system.

The whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth. --Eph. iv. 16.

Compact

Com"pact\, n. [L. compactum, fr. compacisci, p. p. compactus, to make an agreement with; com- + pacisci to make an agreement. See Pact.] An agreement between parties; a covenant or contract.

The law of nations depends on mutual compacts, treaties, leagues, etc. --Blackstone.

Wedlock is described as the indissoluble compact. --Macaulay.

The federal constitution has been styled a compact between the States by which it was ratified. --Wharton.

Syn: See Covenant.