- precise
- c.1450 (implied in precisely), from M.Fr. précis "condensed, cut short" (14c.), from M.L. precisus, from L. pręcisus "abridged, cut off," pp. of pręcidere "to cut off, shorten," from prę- "in front" + cędere "to cut" (see cement; for L. vowel change, see acquisition). Precision is first attested 1640, from M.Fr. precision, from L. pręcisionem (nom. pręcisio) "a cutting off," from pręcisus.