Meanings
nouncompaction (countable and uncountable, plural compactions)
plural compactions
- countableuncountableThe process of compacting something, or something that has been compacted.
At Smithfield Frith is being shovelled up, his youth, his grace, his learning and his beauty: a compaction of mud, grease, charred bone.
2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 480
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan increase in the density of something
Opposite
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincompactionem
- Old Frenchcompaction
- Englishcompaction
From Old French compaction, from Latin compactionem, from compingere.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan compactació
- compactacióprocess of compacting
Chinese Mandarin 壓實 /压实
- 壓實 /压实 (yāshí)process of compacting
Japanese 圧密
- 圧密 (atsumitsu)process of compacting
Norwegian Bokmål kompaktering
- kompakteringprocess of compacting
Spanish compactación
- compactaciónprocess of compacting
Cite this entry
APA
compaction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compaction
MLA
“compaction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compaction. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “compaction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compaction.
Source: compaction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.