precise
[pri-sahys]
adjective
RELATED CONTENT
“Harry Potter” author may face plagiarism trial. What is the precise meaning of plagiarism?This week a British judge refused to dismiss a plagiarism lawsuit against best-selling author J.K. Rowling. The claims against the wildly successful creator of “Harry Potter” say that she stole ideas from an obscure fantasy book. The judge said that a proper hearing should be held to consider the matter. Is plagiarism simply copying words? Or is it more complicated than that? The dictionary defines …
“Mohammed” is one of the top baby names in Britain. What is its precise definition?For the last 14 years, Jack was the most common boy’s name in England and Wales. Last year, though, Oliver overtook Jack to take the top spot. There’s a more interesting story, though, in the statistics: over 7,000 newborn boys in Britain were given one of 12 variations of the name Mohammed, such as Muhammad or Mohammad. Combined, these forms place it in the top …
RELATED WORDS
particular, actual, explicit, decisive, definite, specific, strict, literal, rigid, clear-cut, proper, rigorous, narrow, correct, scrupulous, careful, exact, formal, absolute, categorical
Nearby words
- precipitin test,
- precipitinogen,
- precipitious,
- precipitous,
- precis,
- precisely,
- preciseness,
- precisian,
- precision,
- precision bombing
Origin of precise
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin praecīsus curtailed, brief, orig. past participle of praecīdere to cut off, cut short, equivalent to prae- pre- + -cīsus, combining form of caesus, past participle of caedere to cut
Synonym study
1. See correct.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for precise
precise
adjective
Word Origin for precise
C16: from French précis, from Latin praecīdere to curtail, from prae before + caedere to cut
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
precise
mid-15c., from Middle French précis "condensed, cut short" (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin precisus, from Latin praecisus "abrupt, abridged, cut off," past participle of praecidere "to cut off, shorten," from prae "before" (see pre-) + caedere "to cut" (see -cide; for Latin vowel change, see acquisition). Related: Precisely (late 14c.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper