pact

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French pact, later pacte,^[2][3] and directly borrowed from Latin pactum (“agreement, covenant”),^[2][4][5] a noun use of the neuter past participle of paciscor (“to make a covenant, agree”).^[4][5][6][3] The Latin verb is related to pāx (“peace”), the source of peace,^[7][3][8] and to pangō (“to fix, fasten”).^[5][9][10] They go back to Proto-Indo-European *pag- (“to fasten”),^[4] and Barnhart and Merriam-Webster list as cognates Ancient Greek πήγνυμι (pḗgnūmi, “to fix, fasten”), Sanskrit पाश (pāśa, “noose, cord”) and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (fāhan, “to catch”);^[5][11] Merriam-Webster adds Old English fōn (“to take, seize”).^[11] The French word is recorded from 1352–6.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A formal agreement between persons or parties: 1429, in the Rolls of Parliament.^[2][5] Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century and Dictionary.com to 1400–50.^[4][12]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its meaning since the 15th century,^[2][13] and Johnson (1755) defined it as a contract or covenant.^[14] Merriam-Webster notes the special use for an international treaty.^[11] A verb, to agree to something or to enter into a pact with someone, is recorded from 1535, in Thomas Cromwell, and the intransitive use from 1904.^[2] Etymonline notes the related paction, the making of a pact.^[4]

Timeline

• 1429 – a formal agreement or covenant.^[2][5]
• 1535 – verb, to agree on with another party.^[2]
• 1755 – in Johnson: a contract, a bargain.^[14]
• 1904 – verb, intransitive, to make a pact.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A formal agreement between persons, groups or nations, especially for their mutual benefit; a treaty: The neighbouring states signed a trade pact.

Verb

1. (rare) To make a pact.

Related words

• compact
• peace
• impact
• pagan
• page
• covenant
• treaty

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.