different between delicate vs precise

English

Etymology

From Middle English delicat, from Latin delicatus (“giving pleasure, delightful, soft, luxurious, delicate, in Medieval Latin also fine, slender”), from delicia, usually in plural deliciae (“pleasure, delight, luxury”), from delicere (“to allure”), from de (“away”) + lacere (“to allure, entice”). Compare Spanish delgado (“thin, skinny”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?l?k?t/

Adjective

delicate (comparative more delicate, superlative most delicate)

1. Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
2. Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.

3. Intended for use with fragile items.

4. Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.

5. Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
6. (informal) Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.

   Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.

7. (obsolete) Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
   • circa 1660, John Evelyn (author), William Bray (editor), The Diary of John Evelyn, volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641, page 29:

     Haerlem is a very delicate town and hath one of the fairest churches of the Gothic design I had ever seen.

8. Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.

9. Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
   • circa 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, act II, scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:

     Cassio:   She’s a most exquisite lady.…Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.

10. Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.

11. Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
12. Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.

13. Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.

Synonyms

• (easily damaged): fragile

Related terms

• delicacy
• delicately
• delicatessen
• delicious
• delight

Translations

Noun

delicate (plural delicates)

1. A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.

2. (obsolete) A choice dainty; a delicacy.
3. (obsolete) A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.

Further reading

• delicate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• delicate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.li?ka.te/

Adjective

delicate

1. feminine plural of delicato

Anagrams

• dateceli

Latin

Adjective

d?lic?te

1. vocative masculine singular of d?lic?tus

References

• delicate in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• delicate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• delicate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deli?kate/

Adjective

delicate

1. feminine plural nominative of delicat
2. feminine plural accusative of delicat
3. neuter plural nominative of delicat
4. neuter plural accusative of delicat

English

Alternative forms

• præcise (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle French précis, from Latin praecisus. Doublet of précis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p???sa?s/
• Rhymes: -a?s
• Hyphenation: pre?cise

Adjective

precise (comparative more precise, superlative most precise)

1. exact, accurate

   Antonyms: inexact, imprecise

2. (sciences, of experimental results) consistent, clustered close together, agreeing with each other (this does not mean that they cluster near the true, correct, or accurate value)

   Antonyms: inconsistent, varying

3. adhering too much to rules; prim or punctilious

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:meticulous

Derived terms

• precisely
• prissy

Translations

Verb

precise (third-person singular simple present precises, present participle precising, simple past and past participle precised)

1. (nonstandard, non-native speakers' English or European Union documents, transitive) To make or render precise; to specify.

Derived terms

• precising definition

Translations

Anagrams

• piecers, pierces, recipes

Italian

Adjective

precise

1. feminine plural of preciso

Participle

precise f pl

1. feminine plural of preciso

Verb

precise

1. third-person singular past historic of precidere

Anagrams

• perisce

Portuguese

Verb

precise

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of precisar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of precisar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of precisar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of precisar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /p?e??ise/, [p?e??i.se]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /p?e?sise/, [p?e?si.se]

Verb

precise

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of precisar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of precisar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of precisar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of precisar.