precision

Pluralprecisions (some meanings)

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The state of being exact, and in particular of being both exact and accurate.

   Like an archer who places every arrow in the dead center of the target.

   The watchmaker fitted each tiny gear with remarkable precision.

   Her calculations were carried out with such precision that every figure checked out.

   Similaraccuracy, exactness, exactitude, care, meticulousness

   Oppositeimprecision, inaccuracy, carelessness, sloppiness

   Note

   This is the loose, everyday sense, the one most people mean. The word came from Middle French and is built like precise + -ion. In ordinary speech it sits beside exactness and exactitude, and it is often treated as a synonym for accuracy. Careful technical writers pull those two apart, as the strict measurement sense shows. Outside a lab or workshop, using them together loosely is perfectly normal.

2. 2
   adjective

   Made with, or marked by, accuracy; built or done to fine, exact standards.

   Modern engines depend on precision components machined to fine tolerances.

   The sculptor's precision carving left no rough edges anywhere.

   Similarexact, accurate, meticulous, fine, careful

   Oppositecrude, rough, sloppy, imprecise

   Note

   Here the attributive pattern of the measurement-tool adjective is stretched from equipment to workmanship and action. John Sinnott's BBC Sport report of 2011 describes Bent finishing "with a precision volley," praising one exactly placed strike. Engineering speaks of precision components in the same way. Either way, the word marks something done to an exact standard rather than a tool for measuring.

3. 3
   adjective

   Designed or used for the purpose of taking exact and precise measurements.

   The workshop calibrates its precision gauges every morning.

   Surveyors carried precision instruments to map the boundary exactly.

   Similaraccurate

   Note

   A noun put to work in front of other nouns: precision instruments, precision gauges, precision tools. Because it names a purpose rather than a quality, it cannot be graded. Nothing is "more precision" or "very precision," and it does not stand alone after a verb. To grade the idea, switch to precise, as in a very precise instrument.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The degree to which repeated measurements of the same quantity give the same result.

   Like a printer that turns out identical copies every time, whether or not each copy is correct.

   Engineers prized the gauge for its precision, since it returned almost identical readings across trials.

   High precision alone does not guarantee accuracy; a badly calibrated instrument can be consistent yet wrong.

   Similarrepeatability, reproducibility, consistency, reliability

   Oppositeimprecision, inconsistency, variability

   Note

   Scientists and engineers use the word more strictly, and here it parts company with accuracy. Picture target practice. A tight grouping of shots means good precision even if the whole group lands off-center, and that off-center drift is an accuracy problem fixed by calibration. Repeatability and reproducibility are its close neighbors. Accuracy, which concerns nearness to the true value, is not.

5. 5
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The count of significant digits a value can be measured to with confidence.

   The instrument reports each temperature to a precision of three significant digits.

   Storing the value as a 64-bit number increases its precision.

   Note

   Here the word becomes a count. A value is stated to a precision of three, six or more significant digits, so the noun is countable and typically follows "to a precision of." It measures how finely a number can be expressed, whether by an instrument or a numeric format. That is a different idea from the consistency of repeated readings, though the two are easily blurred.

6. 6
   noununcountable

   A contract bridge bidding system that uses many artificial bids to describe a hand quite precisely.

   Many expert pairs adopt precision for its tightly defined opening bids.

   Under precision, the strong club opening forces partner to respond.

   Note

   Card players borrowed the word as the name of a whole bidding method. It is a strong-club system: the opening bid of one club is artificial and forcing. A large set of conventional bids then conveys a hand's strength and shape. As the name of a system it usually takes no article, so pairs play precision, or bid under precision.

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