9 results for: terse

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

terse

–adjective ters·er, ters·est.

1.	neatly or effectively concise; brief and pithy, as language.

2.	abruptly concise; curt; brusque.

[Origin: 1595–1605; < L tersus, ptp. of tergére to rub off, wipe off, clean, polish

]

—Related forms

tersely, adverb

terseness, noun

—Synonyms 1. succinct, compact, neat, concentrated. 1, 2. See concise.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
terse

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

terse Audio Help (tûrs) Pronunciation Key
adj. ters·er, ters·est
Brief and to the point; effectively concise: a terse one-word answer.

[Latin tersus, past participle of tergēre, to cleanse.]

terse'ly adv., terse'ness n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
terse

1599 (implied in tersely), "clean-cut, burnished, neat," from Fr. ters "clean," from L. tersus "wiped off, clean, neat," from pp. of tergere "to rub, polish, wipe." Sense of "concise or pithy in style or language" is from 1777, which led to a general sense of "neatly concise." The pejorative meaning "brusque" is a fairly recent development.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

terse
adjective
brief and to the point; effectively cut short; "a crisp retort"; "a response so curt as to be almost rude"; "the laconic reply; 'yes'"; "short and terse and easy to understand" [syn: crisp]

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

Terse
Language for decryption of hardware logic.
["Hardware Logic Simulation by Compilation", C. Hansen, 25th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conf, 1988].

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Terse

Con*cise"\, a. [L. concisus cut off, short, p. p. of concidere to cut to pieces; con- + caedere to cut; perh. akin to scindere to cleave, and to E. shed, v. t.; cf. F. concis.] Expressing much in a few words; condensed; brief and compacted; -- used of style in writing or speaking.

The concise style, which expresseth not enough, but leaves somewhat to be understood. --B. Jonson.

Where the author is . . . too brief and concise, amplify a little. --I. Watts.

Syn: Laconic; terse; brief; short; compendious; summary; succinct. See Laconic, and Terse.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

terse

Dif*fuse"\, a. [L. diffusus, p. p.] Poured out; widely spread; not restrained; copious; full; esp., of style, opposed to concise or terse; verbose; prolix; as, a diffuse style; a diffuse writer.

A diffuse and various knowledge of divine and human things. --Milton.

Syn: Prolix; verbose; wide; copious; full. See Prolix.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Terse

Terse\, a. [Compar. Terser; superl. Tersest.] [L. tersus, p. p. of tergere to rub or wipe off.]

1. Appearing as if rubbed or wiped off; rubbed; smooth; polished. [Obs.]

Many stones, . . . although terse and smooth, have not this power attractive. --Sir T. Browne.

2. Refined; accomplished; -- said of persons. [R. & Obs.] "Your polite and terse gallants." --Massinger.

3. Elegantly concise; free of superfluous words; polished to smoothness; as, terse language; a terse style.

Terse, luminous, and dignified eloquence. --Macaulay.

A poet, too, was there, whose verse Was tender, musical, and terse. --Longfellow.

Syn: Neat; concise; compact.

Usage: Terse, Concise. Terse was defined by Johnson "cleanly written", i. e., free from blemishes, neat or smooth. Its present sense is "free from excrescences," and hence, compact, with smoothness, grace, or elegance, as in the following lones of Whitehead:

"In eight terse lines has Ph[ae]drus told (So frugal were the bards of old) A tale of goats; and closed with grace, Plan, moral, all, in that short space." It differs from concise in not implying, perhaps, quite as much condensation, but chiefly in the additional idea of "grace or elegance." -- Terse"ly, adv. -- Terse"ness, n.

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