Etymologically
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inaccurate

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 03:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪnˈæ.kjʊ.ɹət/, /ɪnˈæk.jə.ɹɪt/[1]
  • US: /ɪnˈæk.jə.ɹɪt/, /ɪnˈæk.jɚ.ɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English in- (“not”) + accurate.[2][3][4][5] Accurate is borrowed from Latin accūrātus (“done with care, exact”), the past participle of accūrō (“to take care of, do with care”), from ad- and cūrō (“to care for”), from cūra (“care”).[6][3][2] The OED notes the earlier unaccurate, with the same meaning,[2] which is recorded from 1660 to 1723.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not accurate; inexact, incorrect: 1665, in a pamphlet titled Blazing Star.[2] The sources disagree on the first date: Barnhart finds the adjective implied in inaccurately in 1669, Etymonline dates it to the 1690s, and Merriam-Webster to 1738.[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to its first sense, "not exact or correct".[2][3] Johnson (1755) noted that it was used sometimes of persons, but more often of performances.[7] Modern dictionaries distinguish statements that contain errors from instruments or methods that do not work precisely, such as a thermometer.[5]

Timeline

  • 1660 – unaccurate (obsolete by 1723).[2]
  • 1665 – inaccurate, not accurate.[2]
  • 1669 – implied in inaccurately.[4]
  • 1755 – in Johnson's dictionary.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Containing a mistake; not correct or exact; erroneous: The map was badly inaccurate.[8][5][2]
  2. Not working with precision; faulty: an inaccurate scale.[5]

Word family

  • inaccurately
  • inaccurateness
  • inaccuracy

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins