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Primary

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''précis'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260130112253-00-⌔

précis - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

précis (plural précis)

  • A summary or brief: a concise or abridged statement or view.
    • ✤ I know she goes in for giving a rapid precis of all her guests.1
    • ✤ the computer is functioning, lights on it softly blinking as it produces on the screen beside it a series of graphs — ten years’worth of annual reports, a précis of Data General Corporation’s financial history.2
    • ✤ I was sometimes mildly reprimanded during English lessons at school for making my précis too short[…]3

Verb

précis (third-person singular simple present précises, present participle précising, simple past and past participle précised)

  • to write a précis of a work; to summarise, abridge
    • ✤ If the inital passage consists of a series of paragraphs, each with a one-sentence summary, the individual’s success in managing to précis the essential content of the message can then be assessed4
    • ✤ Nevertheless, to be required to précis say 5000 words on a single sheet of A4 has the advantage of simplicity, even if it isn’t easy.5
    • ✤ Télémaque would not only be read widely in schools throughout the century, it would also be cited approvingly in the Encyclopédie, cherished by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, précised by Louis XVI, and its author saluted by Robespierre as ‘tutor to the human race’.6
    • ✤ We think it is vital to learn how to précis, and to improve this skill with regular practice.7
    • ✤ She also asks if she can leave out the questions asking her to write a business letter and to précis because she feels that these questions would substantially disadvantage her because of her dyslexia. The education provider would not have to make this adjustment because these questions are there to determine her competence at writing and précising, so are part of the competence standard being tested.8

Etymology

Borrowed from French précis (“summary”),9 from a substantive use of its adjectival sense “precise”. Doublet of precise.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpɹeɪsi/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • Rhymes: -eɪsi

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

  1. 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter I, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC: ↩

  2. 1981, Tracy Kidder, chapter 1, in The Soul of a New Machine: ↩

  3. 2023, John Gribbin, Impossible, Possible, and Improbable, →ISBN: ↩

  4. 1983, Philip Priestley, James McGuire, Learning to Help: Basic Skills Excercises ‎, →ISBN, Counseling, page 71: ↩

  5. 1996, Richard Palmer, “Creative Doodling: Note-taking for fun and profit”, in Brain train: studying for success ‎, 2nd edition, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 124: ↩

  6. 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 28: ↩

  7. 2005, Mike Cardwell, Cara Flanagan, Psychology AS: The Complete Companion ‎, Nelson Thornes, →ISBN, Module 2: Developmental psychology: Attachments in development, page 73: ↩

  8. 2007, Disability Rights Commission, Code of practice post-16: code of practice (revised) for providers of post-16 education and related services ‎, Large print version edition, The Stationery Office, →ISBN, page 101: ↩

  9. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “precis”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. ↩

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Secondary

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