pact

[ pakt ]

noun

1. an agreement, covenant, or compact:

   We made a pact not to argue any more.

2. an agreement or treaty between two or more nations:

   a pact between Germany and Italy.

pact

/ pækt /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pact¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pact¹

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

Example Sentences

We need aggressive government policies and trade pacts to push or pull clean technologies into the marketplace and support the development of the tools we don’t yet have or are far too expensive today.

From MIT Technology Review

Kenya’s Building Bridges Initiative, which seeks sweeping amendments to the 2010 Constitution, is driven by a pact between president Uhuru Kenyatta and a seasoned opposition stalwart turned government ally, Raila Odinga.

From Quartz

We made a pact to one another from the start that we would not skimp on any ingredients, which is something that happens too often in the industry.

From Fortune

The new pact does not include India, Asia’s second-largest economy.

From Fortune

On Wednesday, the United States is set to become the only nation to officially withdraw from an international pact aimed at slowing climate change.

From Washington Post

The pact covered two months, September and October, but “may be extended by the parties,” the filing states.

From The Daily Beast

At the same time, the Warsaw Pact threat was disintegrating.

From The Daily Beast

The British, he said, were too weak to survive and would have to settle for a pact with Hitler.

From The Daily Beast

Check out the app Pact, in which a community of fellow users will literally pay you to stick to your schedule.

From The Daily Beast

When you reach your goal, you get paid out of a common pool funded by yourself and other pact-breakers.

From The Daily Beast

The Federal Pact of 1815 had undone Napoleon's comparatively liberal constitution.

From Project Gutenberg

There was no majestic vision of a people rising in its own spontaneous might and deciding its destinies in a great national pact.

From Project Gutenberg

"A pact, my brother," said the man in the hunting-suit, extending his hand.

From Project Gutenberg

The conditions which existed before the pact of Konopisht were no more.

From Project Gutenberg

But in spite of this appeal and of a pact signed with the blood of the writer, no Satanic apparitions were forthcoming.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• arrangement
• compact
• contract
• convention
• covenant
• deal
• protocol
• settlement
• transaction
• understanding