English

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Etymology

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  • First attested in the 1610's with the obsolete sense "done with care", and from the 1650's with the sense "precise, exact".
  • From Latin accūrātus (done with care), perfect past participle of accūrō (take care of); from ad- (to, towards, at) + cūrō (take care), from cūra (care).
  • Compare cure.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈæk.jʊ.ɹət/, /ˈæk.jə.ɹɪt/, /ˈæk.ə.ɹət/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈæk.jə.ɹɪt/, /ˈæk.jɚ.ɪt/, /ˈæk.jɚ.ət/
    • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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accurate (comparative more accurate, superlative most accurate)

  1. Telling the truth or giving a true result; exact; not defective or faulty
    an accurate calculator
    an accurate measure
    accurate knowledge
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page x:
      For more than 90% of the figures (mostly drawn during 1976-1990), either a scale, or the given magnification, will allow the user to derive accurate measurements, even when these are lacking in the diagnosis.
  2. Deviating only slightly or within acceptable limits.
    My horoscopes I read last week were surprisingly accurate.
  3. (obsolete) Precisely fixed; executed with care; careful.
    • 1625, Bacon, Of the Vicissitude of Things:
      for that is the fume of those, that conceive the celestial bodies have more accurate influences upon these things below, than indeed they have

Usage notes

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  • We speak of a thing as correct with reference to some rule or standard of comparison; as, a correct account, a correct likeness, a man of correct deportment.
  • We speak of a thing as accurate with reference to the care bestowed upon its execution, and the increased correctness to be expected therefrom; as, an accurate statement, an accurate detail of particulars.
  • We speak of a thing as exact with reference to that perfected state of a thing in which there is no defect and no redundancy; as, an exact coincidence, the exact truth, an exact likeness.
  • We speak of a thing as precise when we think of it as strictly conformed to some rule or model, as if cut down thereto; as a precise conformity instructions; precisely right; he was very precise in giving his directions.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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accurate

  1. inflection of accuraat:
    1. masculine/feminine singular attributive
    2. definite neuter singular attributive
    3. plural attributive

Interlingua

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Adjective

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accurate (comparative plus accurate, superlative le plus accurate)

  1. accurate
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Italian

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Adjective

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accurate f pl

  1. feminine plural of accurato

Anagrams

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Latin

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Etymology

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From accūrātus (elaborate, exact).

Adverb

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accūrātē (comparative accūrātius, superlative accūrātissimē)

  1. carefully, precisely, exactly
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References

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  • accurate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • accurate”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • accurate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • a carefully written book: liber accurate, diligenter scriptus
  • Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)