Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COM'PACT, n. [L. compactum.]

An agreement; a contract between parties; a word that may be applied, in a general sense, to any covenant or contract between individuals; but it is more generally applied to agreements between nations and states, as treaties and confederacies. So the constitution of the United States is a political contract between the States; a national compact. Or the word is applied to the agreement of the individuals of a community. The law of nations depends on mutual compacts, treaties, leagues, &c. – Blackstone. In the beginnings of speech there was an implicit compact, founded on common consent. – South.