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precise - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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.

  • IPA(key): /pɹɪˈsaɪs/
  • Hyphenation: pre‧cise
  • Rhymes: -aɪs

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.

(sciences) clustered close together

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.

precise

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

precise

  1. feminine plural of preciso

precise

  1. feminine plural of preciso

precise

  1. third-person singular past historic of precidere

precise

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

precise

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