pact
Americannoun
-
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.
noun
Etymology
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
Explanation
A pact is a treaty or other agreement between parties, and it's usually written. Countries can have pacts or you can make a pact with your friends, promising each other that you'll all show up for the spelling bee. A pact is a formal agreement. The 1955 Warsaw Pact, for instance, was Eastern Europe's answer to NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), with communist countries pledging mutual aid in case of foreign aggression. You may also come across the word compact, which is pretty much the same as a pact. The word pact comes from the Latin pactum, meaning "something agreed upon." In Roman times, one kind of pact was the marriage pact you signed when you got married.
Vocabulary lists containing pact
Inside Out & Back Again
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Prisoner B-3087
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To get access to the PACT, we finally contacted a friend in a distant state who is an eminent professor of medicine at another university.
From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2023
Bird’s mother, Margaret Miu, a daughter of Chinese immigrants, is a poet of some stature whose career ended when the United States took a turn into hard xenophobia and passed PACT.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2022
“If the U.K. becomes too expensive, they’ll just move production,” said John McVay, chief executive of PACT, the trade body representing independent production and distribution companies in the U.K.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2022
Now a nurse practitioner can lead a PACT, Nicholson-Gillis said.
From Washington Times • Apr. 28, 2018
The teen was given a 128-item questionnaire called the Positive Achievement Change Tool, or PACT, standard for juvenile cases in Florida.
From Time • Feb. 24, 2015
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
