Précis
(||Pré`cis") n. [F. See Precise.] A concise or abridged statement or view; an abstract; a summary.
Precise
(Pre*cise") a. [L. praecisus cut off, brief, concise, p. p. of praecidere to cut off in front, to cut
off; prae before + caedere to cut: cf. F. précis. Cf. Concise.]
1. Having determinate limitations; exactly or sharply defined or stated; definite; exact; nice; not vague or
equivocal; as, precise rules of morality.
The law in this point is not precise.
Bacon.
For the hour precise
Exacts our parting hence.
Milton. 2. Strictly adhering or conforming to rule; very nice or exact; punctilious in conduct or ceremony; formal; ceremonious.
Addison.
He was ever precise in promise- keeping.
Shak. Syn. — Accurate; exact; definite; correct; scrupulous; punctilious; particular; nice; formal. See Accurate.
— Pre*cise"ly, adv. — Pre*cise"ness, n.
Precisian
(Pre*ci"sian) n.
1. One who limits, or restrains. [Obs.]
2. An overprecise person; one rigidly or ceremoniously exact in the observance of rules; a formalist; —
formerly applied to the English Puritans.
The most dissolute cavaliers stood aghast at the dissoluteness of the emancipated precisian.
Macaulay. Precisianism
(Pre*ci"sian*ism) n. The quality or state of being a precisian; the practice of a precisian.
Milton.
Precisianist
(Pre*ci"sian*ist), n. A precisian.
Precision
(Pre*ci"sion) n. [Cf. F. précision, L. praecisio a cutting off. See Precise.] The quality or
state of being precise; exact limitation; exactness; accuracy; strict conformity to a rule or a standard; definiteness.
I have left out the utmost precisions of fractions.
Locke. Syn. — Preciseness; exactness; accuracy; nicety. — Precision, Preciseness. Precision is always used
in a good sense; as, precision of thought or language; precision in military evolutions. Preciseness is
sometimes applied to persons or their conduct in a disparaging sense, and precise is often used in the
same way.
Precisive
(Pre*ci"sive) a. Cutting off; (Logic) exactly limiting by cutting off all that is not absolutely relative
to the purpose; as, precisive censure; precisive abstraction. I. Watts.
Preclude
(Pre*clude") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Precluded; p. pr. & vb. n. Precluding.] [L. praecludere,
praeclusum; prae before + claudere to shut. See Close, v.]
1. To put a barrier before; hence, to shut out; to hinder; to stop; to impede.
The valves preclude the blood from entering the veins.
E. Darwin.
