terse

See also tersé

English

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /tɜːs/, X-SAMPA: /t3:s/
• (Canada, US) IPA: /tɝːs/, X-SAMPA: /t3:rs/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

Etymology

From the year 1599, from French ters (“clean”), from Latin tersus (“cleansed; neat, spruce”), perfect passive participle of tergō (“I rub, wipe, cleanse”).

Adjective

terse (comparative terser, superlative tersest)

1. (obsolete) Polished, burnished; smooth; fine, neat, spruce.
2. (of speech or style) Brief, concise, to the point.
   • 2012 June 4, Lewis Smith, “Queen's English Society says enuf is enough, innit?”, the Guardian:

     Having attempted to identify a role for the society and its magazine, Quest, "for the next 40 years", the society chairman, Rhea Williams, decided it was time to close. She announced the group's demise in a terse message to members following the annual meeting, which just 22 people attended.

   • 1907, Rev. James Wood, The Nuttall Encyclopaedia, title page:

     "A consise and comprehensive dictionary of general knowledge consisting of over 16,000 terse and original articles on nearly all subjects discussed in larger encyclopaedias, ... "

3. Abruptly or brusquely short.

Synonyms

• abrupt
• brusque
• concise
• curt
• succinct
• laconic
• See also Wikisaurus:concise

Antonyms

• verbose
• prolix

Derived terms

• tersely
• terseness

Translations

of a concise style or speech

• Dutch: bondig (nl)
• Finnish: niukkasanainen (fi)
• French: laconique (fr) m and f
• German: knapp (de), prägnant (de)
• Greek: λακωνικός (el) (lakonikós)
• Hungarian: tömör (hu)

• Icelandic: stuttur og gagnorður (is); stuttur og laggóður (is)
• Japanese: 簡明な (ja) (kanmē na)
• Polish: lakoniczny (pl) m, lapidarny (pl) m, zwięzły (pl) m
• Russian: краткий (ru) (krátkij), лаконичный (ru) (lakoníčnyj)
• Turkish: kısa ve öz (tr), veciz (tr)

abruptly or brusquely short

• Czech: strohý (cs)
• Finnish: niukkasanainen (fi), töksähtävä (fi)
• French: laconique (fr) m and f, lapidaire (fr) m and f
• German: (colloquial) kurz angebunden (de)

• Greek: απότομος (el) (apótomos)
• Japanese: ぶっきらぼうな (ja) (bukkirabō na)
• Polish: krótki (pl) m

Anagrams

• ester, estre, reset, Reset, steer, stere, stree, trees

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tɛʁs/, X-SAMPA: /tERs/
• Homophones: tersent, terses

Verb

terse

1. first-person singular present indicative of terser
2. third-person singular present indicative of terser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of terser
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of terser
5. second-person singular imperative of terser

Anagrams

• ester, estre, êtres, reste, resté, stère, stéré

---

Italian

Verb

terse

1. third-person singular past historic of tergere

Adjective

terse f

1. Plural of terso

Anagrams

• Ester

---

Latin

Participle

terse

1. vocative masculine singular of tersus

---

Venetian

Adjective

terse f

1. feminine plural of terso