precise
See also: précise, precisé, and précisé
English
Alternative forms
- præcise (archaic)
Etymology
From Middle French précis, from Latin praecisus. Doublet of précis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɹɪˈsaɪs/
Audio (RP) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪs
- Hyphenation: pre‧cise
Adjective
precise (comparative more precise or preciser, superlative most precise or precisest)
- exact, accurate
- 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, page 7:
- Individually, some of these definitions fall into the common definitional trap of being overly precise.
- Antonyms: inexact, imprecise
-
- (sciences, of experimental results) consistent, clustered close together, agreeing with each other (this does not mean that they cluster near the true, correct, or accurate value)
- 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
- Risk is everywhere. […] For each [kind] there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles” […] aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.
- Antonyms: inconsistent, varying
-
- adhering too much to rules; prim or punctilious
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:meticulous
Derived terms
- precisely
- prissy
Translations
exact
|
(sciences) clustered close together
|
Verb
precise (third-person singular simple present precises, present participle precising, simple past and past participle precised)
- (nonstandard, non-native speakers' English or 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
- precising definition
Translations
to specify
|
Anagrams
- piecers, pierces, recipes
Italian
Adjective
precise
- feminine plural of preciso
Participle
precise f pl
- feminine plural of preciso
Verb
precise
- third-person singular past historic of precidere
Anagrams
- perisce
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /pɾeˈsi.zi/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /pɾeˈsi.ze/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /pɾɨˈsi.z(ɨ)/
Verb
precise
- inflection of precisar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Spain) /pɾeˈθise/ [pɾeˈθi.se]
- IPA(key): (Latin America) /pɾeˈsise/ [pɾeˈsi.se]
- Rhymes: -ise
- Syllabification: pre‧ci‧se
Verb
precise
- inflection of precisar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative