[a. OF. compaction, ad. L. compactiōn-em, n. of action f. compingĕre, compact-: see COMPACT v.1] The action or process of making or becoming compact, or of compactly framing or fitting together; the state or condition of being so compacted, consolidation.

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1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., II. x. (1495), 37. Compaccyon and sadnesse of setes.

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1471.  Ripley, Comp. Alch., II. i., in Ashm. (1652), 135. Ther hard and dry Compactyon.

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1577.  Harrison, England, II. iii. (1877), I. 73. For uniformitie of building, orderlie compaction … the towne of Cambridge exceedeth that of Oxford.

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1752.  Law, Spir. Love, I. (1816), 20. How comes the flint to be in such a state of hard dark compaction?

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1796.  Hist., in Ann. Reg., 194. The possession of the Cape and Ceylon … was accounted … a compaction of the maritime dominion of Great Britain.

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