precise

See also: précise, precisé, and précisé

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *per-
Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-
Proto-Indo-European *-i
Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i?
Proto-Italic *prai
Proto-Italic *prai-
Latin prae-
Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-
Proto-Indo-European *-eti
Proto-Indo-European *kh₂éydeti
Proto-Italic *kaidō
Latin caedō
Latin praecīdō
Latin praecīsusder.
Middle French précisder.
English precise

    From Middle French précis, from Latin praecīsus, perfect passive participle of praecīdere, from prae- (“before, in front”) +‎ caedere (“cut; strike”), cognate with hit. Related to incise. Doublet of précis.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /pɹɪˈsaɪs/
      • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • Hyphenation: pre‧cise
    • Rhymes: -aɪs

    Adjective

    precise (comparative more precise or preciser, superlative most precise or precisest)

    1. (loosely) Both exact and accurate.
      Antonyms: inexact, imprecise
      precise definition
      highly precise
      precise calculation
      Please give a precise measurement of the room.
      Her precise instructions made the task easier.
      • 1921, Bertrand Russell, The Analysis of Mind:
        A memory is "precise" when the occurrences that would verify it are narrowly circumscribed: for instance, "I met Jones" is precise as compared to "I met a man." A memory is "accurate" when it is both precise and true, i.e. in the above instance, if it was Jones I met.
      • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎[1], page 7:
        Individually, some of these definitions fall into the common definitional trap of being overly precise.
    2. (sciences, engineering, of data points, strictly) Consistent, clustered close together, agreeing with each other (this does not mean that they cluster near the true, correct, or accurate value).
      Antonyms: imprecise; inconsistent, varying
      Coordinate term: accurate
    3. Adhering too much to rules; prim or punctilious.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Translations

    See also

    Verb

    precise (third-person singular simple present precises, present participle precising, simple past and past participle precised)

    1. (nonstandard, European Union documents, transitive) To make or render precise; to specify.
      • 2011, Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the Common Fisheries Policy:
        This proposal for a new basic regulation is justified because there is a need to precise the objectives of the CFP.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    Anagrams

    Galician

    Verb

    precise

    1. inflection of precisar:
      1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
      2. third-person singular imperative

    Italian

    Adjective

    precise

    1. feminine plural of preciso

    Participle

    precise

    1. feminine plural of preciso

    Verb

    precise

    1. third-person singular past historic of precidere

    Anagrams

    Portuguese

    Pronunciation

    • (Brazil) IPA(key): /pɾeˈsi.zi/

    Verb

    precise

    1. inflection of precisar:
      1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
      2. third-person singular imperative

    Spanish

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    precise

    1. inflection of precisar:
      1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
      2. third-person singular imperative
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