Precise is an adjective meaning exact. A premise is a noun: a statement taken as the basis for an argument — and in the plural, premises, a building and its grounds. A precise measurement; the premise of the film; on the premises. Close in shape, nowhere near in meaning.
The core difference
- precise — exact, accurate, sharply defined. The precise moment, precise instructions, to be precise.
- premise — a proposition assumed as a starting point; the basic idea of a story. The premise is that crime pays, a false premise. Plural premises: a building and its land. Alcohol may not be consumed on the premises.
The tell
Precise ends in -cise, "cut", like incise and concise — cut to exactly the right size. Premise ends in -mise, "sent", like promise — something sent ahead of the argument. One describes; the other is a thing you can state, question or build on.
In use
- precise — Give me the precise figure, not an estimate. The cut must be precise to the millimetre.
- premise — The whole plan rests on a shaky premise. Smoking is banned on the premises.
Common slips
- on the precise that it would rain → on the premise that it would rain
- a premise measurement → a precise measurement
Precise is cut exactly; a premise is sent ahead.
Where the words come from
Precise is from Latin praecisus, "cut off short", from prae- + caedere "to cut". Premise is from Latin praemissa, "sent before", from prae- + mittere "to send" — in logic, the statements sent ahead of the conclusion. The building sense comes from legal deeds, where "the premises" meant the property already named earlier in the document.
