pact
Americannoun
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pacts
plural
-
an agreement, covenant, or compact.
We made a pact not to argue any more.
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an agreement or treaty between two or more nations.
a pact between Germany and Italy.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Any trade pact Canada strikes with the U.S. must ensure that agreed-upon tariff levels on certain goods would not be subject to change, Prime Minister Mark Carney said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
The provisional pact was then fleshed out in a wider circle on Thursday, when a meeting among leading supervisory-board members was already scheduled to prepare for the wider meeting on Friday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
US President Donald Trump has described the pact announced Friday as "the biggest oil deal in world history."
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Wale has sought to build closer ties with Australia and the United States since his election in May, putting a secretive security pact with Chinese under review.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
We reach out our hands and seal our pact.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
It also creates an incentive for countries to comply with trade pacts that they earlier struck, she added.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
The pacts are part of CN Rail’s broader push to strengthen its north-south corridors and deepen partnerships with U.S. railroads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But major partners like the EU, which earlier signed a trade deal with Washington, expect their pacts to hold.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
But these little small pacts start to snowball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
Cleopatra saw for herself the power plays, secret pacts, broken promises, bribes, and betrayals that marked her father’s rule.
From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby
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.
