Ac"cu*rate (&?;), a. [L. accuratus, p. p. and a., fr.
accurare to take care of; ad + curare to take care,
cura care. See Cure.]
1. In exact or careful conformity to truth, or to some standard of requirement, the result of care or pains; free from failure, error, or defect; exact; as, an accurate calculator;
an accurate measure; accurate expression, knowledge,
etc.
2. Precisely fixed; executed with care; careful. [Obs.]
Those conceive the celestial bodies have more accurate
influences upon these things
below.
Bacon.
Syn. -- Correct; exact; just; nice; particular. -- Accurate, Correct, Exact,
Precise. 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
redundance; 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.