English
pact
Pact comes from Latin pactum ‘something agreed upon’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to join, fasten’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to join, fasten’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpacō‘to come to an agreement’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpacīscoras pacīscī‘to agree’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpactum‘something agreed upon’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pacte
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pact
- Englishearliest quotation 1989pact
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to join, fasten’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpacō‘to come to an agreement’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpacīscoras pacīscī‘to agree’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpactum‘something agreed upon’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pacte
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pact
- Englishearliest quotation 1989pact
Earliest quotation: 1989, Priit J. Vesilind, The Baltic: Arena of Power: “In response, all seven nations of the Baltic community…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to join, fasten’
fair, peace, pace, fang, repay, fay, pax, gaffe, pacifist, pogue, pacifism, 8 more
Today it means
noun An agreement; a compact; a covenant.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- / pact