précision

Forms

précision f (plural précisions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin praecīsiō (“a cutting off”),^[2][1][3] from praecīsus, the past participle of praecīdō (“to cut off in front”).^[4][5][6] In Latin the noun also meant a clipping and, in rhetoric, a breaking off of speech.^[3] Its later senses come from the adjective précis, of the same Latin origin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1380 in a Latin–French glossary, which renders precisio as “cutting, paring”.^[2][5] From 1521 it meant the act of cutting off or delimiting something in thought.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The philosophical sense of mentally setting something apart was recorded by Richelet in 1680 but disappeared after the 17th century.^[2][3] Meanwhile, under the influence of précis, the word came to mean the quality of what is exactly determined in space and time (1606), and then, mostly in the plural, precise details and facts (1682), the quality of someone who expresses himself clearly and rigorously (1688) and of what is sharply represented in the mind (1690).^[2][3]

From the end of the 18th century it applied to things that work exactly (1794), especially in instrument de précision (1855), and to a person whose movements are exactly suited to a task (1801).^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – First record, in a Latin–French glossary, meaning “paring”.^[2]
• 1521 – Used of delimiting something by thought.^[2]
• 1606 – Crespin's dictionary has the sense “exactness”.^[2]
• 1682 – Bossuet uses it of precise details.^[2]
• 1688 – Of a person who expresses himself with rigour.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “clarity of a mental image”.^[2]
• 1794 – Condorcet speaks of the precision of machines that measure time.^[2]
• 1855 – Instruments de précision appears.^[2]
• 1941 – The derivative précisionniste is first recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Exactness, clarity: the quality of being précis.^[7][2]
2. Sharpness of a mental image or a description.^[7]
3. Exactness in action or in the working of a device;^[7][4] instrument de précision, a precision instrument.^[7][4]
4. Conciseness and accuracy of expression.^[4]
5. (chiefly plural) A precise detail or piece of further information.^[1][4]

Word family

• précisionniste
• imprécision

Related words

• précis
• préciser
• Latin praecīdō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert