compact

Contents

English

Pronunciation

• Noun:
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmˌpækt/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑmˌpækt/
• Adjective:
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpækt/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpækt/, /ˈkɑmˌpækt/
• Verb:
  • (US, UK) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpækt/

Etymology 1

From Latin compactum (“agreement”).

Noun

compact (plural compacts)

1. An agreement or contract.

Synonyms

• agreement, contract, pact, treaty

Translations

agreement or contract

• Bulgarian: договор (bg) m (dogovor), споразумение (bg) n (sporazumenie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 协议 (zh)

• Galician: acordo (gl) m
• German: Pakt (de) m, Kontrakt (de) m, Übereinkommen n, Vertrag (de) m
• Greek: σύμβαση (el) f (sýmvasi), συμφωνία (el) f (symfonía), συμβόλαιο (el) n (symvólaio)

• Irish: acht (ga) m
• Latin: compectum n
• Portuguese: acordo (pt) m, contrato (pt) m, pacto (pt) m
• Russian: пакт (ru) m (pakt), сде́лка (ru) f (sdélka), догово́р (ru) m (dogovór)
• Spanish: acuerdo (es) m

Etymology 2

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

Adjective

compact (comparative more compact, superlative most compact)

1. Closely packed, i.e. packing much in a small space.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Isaac Newton

     glass, crystal, gems, and other compact bodies

2. Having all necessary features fitting neatly into a small space.

   a compact laptop computer

3. (mathematics, not comparable, of a set in an Euclidean space) Closed and bounded.

   A set S of real numbers is called compact if every sequence in S has a subsequence that converges to an element again contained in S.

4. (topology, not comparable, of a set) Such that every open cover of the given set has a finite subcover.
5. Brief; close; pithy; not diffuse; not verbose.

   a compact discourse

6. (obsolete) Joined or held together; leagued; confederated.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     compact with her that's gone

   • (Can we date this quote?) Peacham

     a pipe of seven reeds, compact with wax together

7. (obsolete) Composed or made; with of.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     A wandering fire, / Compact of unctuous vapour.

Synonyms

• (closely packed): concentrated, crowded, dense, serried, solid, thick, tight; see also Thesaurus:compact

Hyponyms

• ultracompact

Derived terms

• compact disc
• locally compact

Translations

closely packed

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} сбит (bg) (sbit), ^{(please verify)} плътен (bg) (plǎten)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 紧凑 (zh), 緊湊 (zh)

• Czech: kompaktní
• Dutch: compact (nl)
• Finnish: tiivis (fi), kompakti (fi)
• French: compact (fr)
• Galician: compacto m
• Greek: συμπαγής (el) m (sympagís), πυκνός (el) m (pyknós)

• Hebrew: דחוס‎ (dakhús)
• Hungarian: kompakt (hu)
• Irish: dlúth
• Italian: compatto (it)
• Maori: raungaiti, kiato
• Portuguese: compacto (pt)
• Romanian: compact (ro) m or n
• Russian: компа́ктный (ru) (kompáktnyj), пло́тный (ru) (plótnyj)
• Spanish: compacto (es)

having all necessary features fitting neatly into a small space

• Bulgarian: компактен (bg) (kompakten)
• Dutch: compact (nl)
• Finnish: kompakti (fi)
• French: compact (fr)
• Galician: compacto m

• Greek: περιεκτικός (el) m (periektikós), συμπαγής (el) m (sympagís)
• Portuguese: compacto (pt)
• Romanian: compact (ro) m or n
• Russian: компа́ктный (ru) (kompáktnyj)
• Swedish: kompakt (sv)

topological sense

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 紧的 (jǐn de), 紧致的 (jǐnzhì de)

• Dutch: compact (nl)
• French: compact (fr)
• Galician: compacto m
• German: kompakt (de)
• Greek: συμπεπιεσμένος m (sympepiesménos)

• Hebrew: קומפקטי‎ (he) (kompákti)
• Hungarian: kompakt (hu)
• Polish: zwarty (pl) m
• Portuguese: compacto (pt)
• Romanian: compact (ro) m or n
• Swedish: kompakt (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} kompakta

Noun

Vintage black enamel compact, c. 1960s

compact (plural compacts)

1. A small, slim folding case, often featuring a mirror, powder and a powderpuff; that fits into a woman's purse or handbag, or that slips into one's pocket.
2. A broadsheet newspaper published in the size of a tabloid but keeping its non-sensational style.
   • 2012, BBC News: Dundee Courier makes move to compact [1]:

     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.

Translations

small, slim folding case, often holding a mirror

• Greek: πουδριέρα (el) f (poudriéra)
• Japanese: コンパクト (ja) (konpakuto)

• Manx: kishtey poodyr m

newspaper format

Verb

compact (third-person singular simple present compacts, present participle compacting, simple past and past participle compacted)

1. (transitive) To make more dense; to compress.
   • 2014 August 24, Jeff Howell, “Home improvements: gravel paths and cutting heating bills [print version: Cold comfort in technology, 23 August 2014, p. P5]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property)‎^[2]:

     You need to excavate and remove the topsoil, line the subsoil with a geotextile, then lay and compact hardcore.

2. To unite or connect firmly, as in a system.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Bible, Eph. iv. 16

     The whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth.

Synonyms

• (make more dense): compress, condense; see also Thesaurus:compress

Translations

make more dense

• Bulgarian: сбивам (bg) (sbivam), сгъстявам (bg) (sgǎstjavam)
• Dutch: compactificeren, samenpersen (nl)
• Galician: compactar
• German: komprimieren (de)
• Greek: συμπυκνώνω (el) (sympyknóno), συμπτύσσω (el) (symptýsso)

• Hebrew: דחס‎ (dakhás)
• Irish: comhdhlúthaigh, dlúthaigh
• Maori: whakakiato
• Portuguese: compactar (pt)
• Spanish: compactar (es), apelmazar (es)

See also

• Compact (cosmetics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• accompt

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

compact (comparative compacter, superlative compactst)

1. compact (closely packed), dense
2. compact (having all necessary features fitting neatly into a small space)

Inflection

Inflection of compact
uninflected	compact
inflected	compacte
comparative	compacter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		compact	compacter	het compactst het compactste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	compacte	compactere	compactste
	n. sing.	compact	compacter	compactste
	plural	compacte	compactere	compactste
definite		compacte	compactere	compactste
partitive		compacts	compacters	—

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.pakt/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

compact (feminine singular compacte, masculine plural compacts, feminine plural compactes)

1. compact (closely packed), dense
2. compact (having all necessary features fitting neatly into a small space)

Noun

compact m (plural compacts)

1. compact disc
2. music center (US), music centre (UK)
3. compact camera

Synonyms

• (compact disc): Compact Disc, disque compact

Further reading

• “compact” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).