compactness

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 , made2 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 flesh3: 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

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