Etymologically
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precision

Etymology and origin of the English word precision

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1640
Borrowed from
French précision
Ultimate origin
Latin (praecisio)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /prɪˈsɪʒ.ən/, /prəˈsɪʒ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French précision (16th century) and directly from Latin praecīsiō, a cutting off,[2][3][4] a noun from praecīdere, to cut off, shorten,[2][3] from prae-, before, and caedere, to cut (see precise).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A cutting off, especially the mental separation of one idea from another: 1640 in the OED, the 1630s in Etymonline.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, exactness or accuracy, is from 1740;[6] a nicety or exact detail is earlier, from 1691.[6] Precision as a modifier, implying exact performance (precision instrument), is from 1875.[6][3] In statistics it is the reproducibility of a measurement (1885), and in computing the number of significant digits in a number (1948).[6]

Timeline

  • 1640 – a cutting off.[6]
  • 1691 – a nicety.[6]
  • 1740 – exactness.[6]
  • 1875 – precision instruments.[6][3]
  • 1948 – numerical precision.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The quality of being precise; exactness or accuracy.
  2. The exactness with which a number is given; the number of significant digits.

Adjective

  1. Made or used for exact measurement or action: a precision instrument.

Word family

  • precisionist
  • precisional
  • overprecision
  • precisionism
  • ultraprecision
  • double precision

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Precision.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/precision. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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