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compactness

 - 5 dictionary results

com⋅pact

1  [adj. kuhm-pakt, kom-, kom-pakt; v. kuhm-pakt; n. kom-pakt]
Use compactness in a Sentence
–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

Related forms:
com⋅pact⋅ed⋅ly, adverb
com⋅pact⋅ed⋅ness, noun
com⋅pact⋅ly, adverb
com⋅pact⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. small, snug. 5. concise, succinct, brief. 8. compress. 9. stabilize, solidify.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To compactness
com·pact 1   (kəm-pākt', kŏm-, kŏm'pākt')   
adj.  

  1. Closely and firmly united or packed together; dense: compact clusters of flowers.

  2. Occupying little space compared with others of its type: a compact camera; a compact car.

  3. Brief and to the point; concise: a compact narration.

  4. 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.

  1. 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')

  1. A small case containing a mirror, pressed powder, and a powder puff.

  2. 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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

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.
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Encyclopedia

compactness

in mathematics, property of some topological spaces (a generalization of Euclidean space) that has its main use in the study of functions defined on such spaces. An open covering of a space (or set) is a collection of open sets that covers the space; i.e., each point of the space is in some member of the collection. A space is defined as being compact if from each such collection of open sets, a finite number of these sets can be chosen that also cover the space

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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