These words denote promises or understandings made between two or more parties as to a course of action.

Covenant carries strong overtones of obligation and responsibility. A covenant is often a solemn pledge made by members of a religious or other dedicated group to maintain and promote a body of doctrine or a set of principles: the Covenant of the Liberty of Worship drawn up on Scotland in 1557; the Covenant of the League of Nations. A covenant in a legal contract or agreement places some obligation on the parties concerned, usually against some possible action: a covenant on the sale of building land stipulating that only brick dwelling shall be erected.

Agreement is the most general and most positive term, suggesting that a settlement has already been reached. Agreements range in importance from those made informally between persons to those drawn up between countries or state.

• By tacit agreement , Clark’s friends all avoided any mention of his mentally ill wife; During the course of history, many agreements have been made between France and England.

A contract is a formal agreement almost always in written form and enforceable by law. Contracts may be drawn up for the performance of work at a fixed rate and within a given period: a contract to deliver military supplies to the government; a contract signed by an author to write a history of the town for its forthcoming centenary. Or it may be a binding, legalized agreement between persons: a marriage contract .

Compact carries the idea of a solemn agreement between persons or between political groups or states. A compact may or may not be in written form, but the chief guarantee of its being carried out is that each party is under strong pressures of obligation and mutual trust.

• The two brothers made a compact that the family business would always be handed down to their descendants; Faust made a compact with Satan; The seven nations made a compact to regulate tariffs.

Concordat is confined to formal agreements between the papacy and a national government to terminate or avert dissension between the Roman Catholic Church and civil power.