Main Entry: ¹com·pact

Pronunciation: \kəm-ˈpakt, käm-ˈ, ˈkäm-ˌ\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English, firmly put together, from Latin compactus, from past participle of compingere to put together, from com- + pangere to fasten — more at pact

Date: 14th century

1 : predominantly formed or filled : composed, made
2 a : having a dense structure or parts or units closely packed or joined <a compact woolen> <compact bone> b : not diffuse or verbose <a compact statement> c : occupying a small volume by reason of efficient use of space <a compact camera> <a compact formation of troops> d : short-bodied, solid, and without excess flesh
3 : being a topological space and especially a metric space with the property that for any collection of open sets which contains it there is a subset of the collection with a finite number of elements which also contains it

— com·pact·ly \-ˈpak(t)-lē, -ˌpak(t)-\ adverb

— com·pact·ness \-ˈpak(t)-nəs, -ˌpak(t)-\ noun