English
precise
Precise comes from Latin praecīsus ‘shortened, severed’, from caedō ‘cut’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidō‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedōas caedere‘cut’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecīsus‘shortened, severed’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600précis
- Englishearliest quotation 1921precise
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidō‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedōas caedere‘cut’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraecīsus‘shortened, severed’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600précis
- Englishearliest quotation 1921precise
Earliest quotation: 1921, Bertrand Russell: “A memory is "precise" when the occurrences that would…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- ‘to cut, hew’
through Proto-Italic *kaidō ‘to cut, hew, fell’
through Latin caedō ‘cut’
decision, cement, circumcision, concise, incision, chisel, scissor, incisive, excision, caesium, incisor, 27 more
Today it means
adj Both exact and accurate.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- / precise