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praecisus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word praecisus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
170–c. 90 BC, Accius
Ultimate origin
Latin praecīdō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin praecido
Latin praecisus
French précis
Italian preciso
From the same root
Latin praecisio ← praecido

Forms

praecīsus (feminine praecīsa, neuter praecīsum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin praecīdō (“to cut off in front, cut short”), its perfect passive participle used as an adjective.[1][3][2] The verb is a compound of prae- (“before, in front”) and caedō (“to cut”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in a tragedy of Accius, of a sheer mountain ridge (praecisum iugum).[1]

Semantic evolution

Sallust and Virgil use it of steep, broken ground and of rock,[2][5] and Quintilian of cliffs.[2][6] Manilius has it in the literal sense “cut off, separated” from Italy,[6] and Seneca uses praecisi as a noun for eunuchs.[6] In rhetoric it described speech or a narration cut short, and clipped, staccato words or rhythm, as in Cicero's De Oratore and in Quintilian.[1][2] Medieval Latin kept “sheer” (of the gorge at Cheddar)[7] and developed the sense “definite, exact”, found in Peckham, Bacon and Wyclif;[7] it could also mean “excommunicated”, cut off from the Church.[8] French précis[8] and Italian preciso come from it.[5]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of a sheer ridge.[1][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of clipped, staccato rhythm in prose.[1][2][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a sheer rock.[2][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses praecisi for eunuchs.[6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a curtailed narration.[1][2]
  • 1283 – Peckham uses it in a letter of an exact truth.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of ground or rock) sheer, abrupt, precipitous.[1][2][5]
  2. Cut off, separated (from a place).[6]
  3. Castrated; as a noun, praecisī, eunuchs.[6]
  4. (rhetoric) Cut short, curtailed;[1][2][5] (of words or feet) clipped, staccato.[1][2][5]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Definite, exact, precise.[7]
  6. (Medieval Latin) Excommunicated.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Praecisus.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/praecisus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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