Origin: 1350–1400;Middle English < Latinpraecīsus curtailed, brief, orig. past participle of praecīdere to cut off, cut short, equivalent to prae-pre- + -cīsus, combining form of caesus, past participle of caedere to cut
mid-15c., from M.Fr. précis "condensed, cut short" (14c.), from M.L. precisus, from L. praecisus "abridged, cut off," pp. of praecidere "to cut off, shorten," from prae- "in front" + caedere "to cut" (see cement; for Latin vowel change, see acquisition).