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Pact has "peace" at its root because a pact often ends a period of unfriendly relations. The word is generally used in the field of international relations, where diplomats may speak of an "arms pact", a "trade pact", or a "fishing-rights pact". But it may also be used for any solemn agreement or promise between two people; after all, whenever two parties shake hands on a deal, they're not about to go to war with each other.
Synonyms
Examples of pact in a Sentence
Marc Schneider, Billboard, 26 Apr. 2024
Analysts said the pact was critical in preventing flare-ups from becoming broader conflicts.
—Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024
Drug cartel La Familia Michoacana agreed on individual terms in a separate pact.
—Karol Suárez, The Courier-Journal, 25 Apr. 2024
The Amblin-Participant pact ended in 2020, and Amblin was later rebranded Amblin Entertainment.
—Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Apr. 2024
The legislative package, known as the migration and asylum pact, took three years to negotiate and is being touted by Brussels as a major breakthrough.
—Beatriz Ríos, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
Blizzard suspended most online game services and sales in mainland China when the prior pact expired more than a year ago, cutting off a lucrative collaboration for both parties.
—Sabrina Mao, Fortune Asia, 10 Apr. 2024
Hundreds of Lithuanians thundered the patriotic anthem of national independence, which had been banned by the 1940 nonaggression pact between Hitler and Stalin, a deal that, in effect, condoned the Soviet seizure of Lithuania.
—Sam Roberts, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
The pact also comes soon after Perry expanded his deal with Netflix, adding TV series to the mix.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pact.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Pact.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pact. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pact
nounMiddle English pact "agreement," from early French pact (same meaning), from Latin pactum (same meaning), derived from pacisci "to agree, contract"
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