pact

[pakt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pact ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an agreement, covenant, or compact: We made a pact not to argue any more.

an agreement or treaty between two or more nations: a pact between Germany and Italy.

Origin of pact

1400–50; late Middle English pact(e) < Middle French < Latin pactum, noun use of neuter of past participle of pacīscī to make a bargain, contract

Can be confusedpacked pact

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pact

covenant, compact, transaction, protocol, deal, understanding, contract, arrangement, convention, settlement, league, alliance, concord, bargain, treaty, paper, bond, concordat

Examples from the Web for pact

Contemporary Examples of pact

The pact covered two months, September and October, but “may be extended by the parties,” the filing states.
Exclusive: Did This Manhattan Firm Help Shield a Russian Fund From Sanctions?
Bill Conroy
November 10, 2014
At the same time, the Warsaw Pact threat was disintegrating.
How the Pentagon Strangles Its Most Advanced Stealth Warplanes
Bill Sweetman
October 13, 2014
On the left, they are hemmed in by the pact of solidarity among self-identified oppressed groups.
Rand Paul’s Comments on GOP Voter-ID Laws Mark a Turning Point
James Poulos
May 13, 2014
He fears a rural domestic backlash and continued foreign meddling as a result of the pact.
Taliban Slams Loya Jirga Bilateral Security Agreement
Ron Moreau & Sami Yousafzai
November 26, 2013
She explained that she had “made a pact with God” that if he cured her child of autism, she would share that path with the world.
The Best and Worst of Jenny McCarthy (Video)
Sara Bower, Natasha Bach
July 15, 2013

Historical Examples of pact

My pact with myself was to be revenged on him, come what might afterwards.
One Of Them
Charles James Lever
Donogan now knows whether it will become him to sign this pact with the enemy.
Lord Kilgobbin
Charles Lever
They failed, they broke the pact, and judgment followed them of course.
Messages from the Epistle to the Hebrews
Handley C.G. Moule
The only conceivable explanation was that he had made a pact with the devil.
Folkways
William Graham Sumner
But respecting the Pact of Rome they were rather at issue with the Italians.
The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 2
Henry Baerlein

British Dictionary definitions for pact

pact

noun

an agreement or compact between two or more parties, nations, etc, for mutual advantage

Word Origin for pact

C15: from Old French pacte, from Latin pactum, from pacīscī to agree

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pact

early 15c., from Old French pacte "agreement, treaty, compact" (14c.), from Latin pactum "agreement, contract, covenant," noun use of neuter past participle of pacisci "to covenant, to agree, make a treaty," from PIE root *pag- "fix, join together, unite, make firm" (cf. Sanskrit pasa- "cord, rope," Avestan pas- "to fetter," Greek pegnynai "to fix, make firm, fast or solid," Latin pangere "to fix, to fasten," Slavonic paž "wooden partition," Old English fegan "to join," fon "to catch seize").