compactes

Compactes is the feminine plural form of the French adjective compacte, meaning small, dense, or tightly arranged. It describes things that are compact in size or design and is commonly used in everyday language to indicate efficiency of space or form. The masculine form is compact, and the plural forms are compacts (masculine) and compactes (feminine).

In practical usage, the term appears in a variety of contexts. Des voitures compactes refers to compact cars, des appareils compacts to compact devices, and des logements/espaces compacts to space-efficient housing or layouts. The expression is frequent in architecture, urban planning, consumer electronics, and product descriptions that emphasize a small footprint or high density.

In science, particularly astronomy, the phrase objets compacts or étoile/objet compact describes dense celestial bodies or systems with small radii and high mass density. Examples include white dwarfs, neutron stars, and certain compact galaxies. In this sense, compactes conveys a physical characteristic—extreme density relative to size.

Etymology and grammar-wise, compacte comes from Latin compactus, via Old and Middle French, with the feminine plural compactes agreeing with feminine plural nouns. Outside of French, compactes is rarely used; English equivalents are typically compact (as an adjective) or the phrase compact objects in scientific contexts.