pact

formal agreement; treaty: a pact with Germany

Not to be confused with:

pack – small package of similar items: a pack of tissues; bundle; a group of people, animals, or things: pack of wolves

pact

(păkt)

1. A formal agreement, such as one between nations; a treaty.

2. An arrangement between people; a compact. See Synonyms at agreement.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pactum, from neuter sing. past participle of pacīscī, to agree; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pact

(pækt)

(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) an agreement or compact between two or more parties, nations, etc, for mutual advantage

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

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pact

(pækt)

n.

1. an agreement or compact.

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

[1400–50; < Middle French < Latin pactum, n. use of neuter past participle of pacīscī to make a bargain, contract]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

pact - a written agreement between two states or sovereigns

treaty, accord

written agreement - a legal document summarizing the agreement between parties

alliance - a formal agreement establishing an association or alliance between nations or other groups to achieve a particular aim

commercial treaty - a treaty governing commerce between two or more nations

peace treaty, pacification, peace - a treaty to cease hostilities; "peace came on November 11th"

convention - (diplomacy) an international agreement

pact

noun agreement, contract, alliance, treaty, deal, understanding, league, bond, arrangement, bargain, convention, compact, protocol, covenant, concord, concordat The two countries signed a non-aggression pact.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

pact

noun

1. An act or state of agreeing between parties regarding a course of action:

accord, agreement, arrangement, bargain, compact, deal, understanding.

2. A formal, usually written settlement between nations:

accord, agreement, concord, convention, treaty.

3. A legally binding arrangement between parties:

agreement, bond, compact, contract, convention, covenant.

Translations

حِلْف، إتفاقيَّه

smlouva

pagt

sopimus

samningur; sáttmáli

paktas

pakt

公约协定合同条约

pact

[pækt] N

1. (between two people) → pacto m
to make a pact (with sb) → hacer un pacto (con algn)
to make a pact with the Devil → hacer un pacto con el diablo
to make a pact (not) to do sth → acordar (no) hacer algo, pactar (no) hacer algo
see also suicide

2. (Pol, Comm) → pacto m (esp Econ, Ind) → convenio m
electoral pact → pacto m electoral
non-aggression pact → pacto m de no agresión

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

pact

[ˈpækt] n → pacte m
He signed a non-aggression pact with Germany → Il signa un pacte de non-agression avec l'Allemagne.
to sign a pact → signer un pacte
to sign a pact with sb → signer un pacte avec qn
to make a pact with sb [country] → faire un pacte avec qn
to make a pact to do sth [friends, partners] → faire un pacte pour faire qch, se promettre de faire qch
to make a pact with the devil → faire un pacte avec le diable

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

pact

n → Pakt m; to make a pact with somebody → mit jdm einen Pakt schließen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

pact

[pækt] n → patto, trattato, accordo

pact

(pӕkt) noun

an agreement, especially if formal and/or between the representatives of nations. They made a pact to help each other.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

A moment later the officers began to bustle among the men, pushing them into a more com- pact mass and into a better alignment.

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Don Quixote was not very well satisfied with the divinations of the ape, as he did not think it proper that an ape should divine anything, either past or future; so while Master Pedro was arranging the show, he retired with Sancho into a corner of the stable, where, without being overheard by anyone, he said to him, "Look here, Sancho, I have been seriously thinking over this ape's extraordinary gift, and have come to the conclusion that beyond doubt this Master Pedro, his master, has a pact, tacit or express, with the devil."

View in context

Should it unhappily be necessary to appeal to these delicate truths for a justification for dispensing with the consent of particular States to a dissolution of the federal pact, will not the complaining parties find it a difficult task to answer the MULTIPLIED and IMPORTANT infractions with which they may be confronted?

View in context

They know that it will be well to have a friend here when the time comes for drawing up the pact."

View in context

Five score of head-hunting cannibals on the fringe of the jungle, fifteen Su'u return blacks in the boat, seven black boat's crew, and a solitary white man with a cigar in his mouth, a rifle at his hip, and an Irish terrier bristling against his bare calf, kept the solemn pact of those ten seconds, and no one of them knew or guessed what the outcome would be.

View in context

Wert thou so void of fear or shame As offer them to me, the Son of God-- To me my own, on such abhorred pact, That I fall down and worship thee as God?

View in context

"The SOCIAL CONTRACT founded upon this basis will be a perpetual pact between those who have and those who have not.

View in context

So having reached the abrupt Earth-rooted Threshold with its brazen stairs, He paused at one of the converging paths, Hard by the rocky basin which records The pact of Theseus and Peirithous.

View in context

"De Montfort has told him as much a dozen times, and now that all of us, both Norman and Saxon barons, have already met together and formed a pact for our mutual protection the King must surely realize that the time for temporizing be past, and that unless he would have a civil war upon his hands he must keep the promises he so glibly makes, instead of breaking them the moment De Montfort's back be turned."

View in context

Trade Representative (USTR) Rob Portman to officially notify Congress of the U.S.' intent to enter into a free trade pact with the South American nation.

U.S.-Peru free trade pact on the Horizon

Here again the accent is on a feminized pact, with the combined, if ostensibly competing, power of a devirilized banker and irresistible courtesan disempowering the seemingly omnipotent Vautrin: "Ainsi Esther, de par son statut de courtisane, ebranle le principe masculin, incarne par Vautrin" (254).

Murata, Kyoko. Les Metamorphoses du pacte diabolique dans l'oeuvre de Balzac

And if there is no obvious near-term growth benefit from fiscal consolidation, the yielding of monetary sovereignty by national central banks to the European Central Bank makes the loss of national fiscal discretion to the Stability and Growth Pact more costly and increases these eurozone member nations' output volatility.

Why the Pact has no impact: why the Stability and Growth Pact ultimately made no significant difference to the fiscal behavior of the eurozone major member economies