terse

See also tersé

English

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /tɜːs/, SAMPA: /t3:s/
• (Canada, US) IPA: /tɝːs/, 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.
   • 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

Finnish: niukkasanainen (fi) French: laconique (fr) m. and f. Hungarian: tömör (hu) Icelandic: stuttur og gagnorður (is) m., stutt og gagnorð (is) f., stutt og gagnyrt (is) n.; stuttur og laggóður (is) m., stutt og laggóð (is) f., stutt og laggott (is) n.

Japanese: 簡明な (ja) (kanmē na) Polish: lakoniczny (pl) m., lapidarny (pl) m., zwięzły (pl) m.

abruptly or brusquely short

Finnish: niukkasanainen (fi), töksähtävä (fi) French: laconique (fr) m. and f., lapidaire (fr) m. and f.

Japanese: ぶっきらぼうな (ja) (bukkirabō na) Polish: krótki (pl) m.

Anagrams

• ester
• estre
• reset
• steer
• stere
• trees

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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

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Italian

Verb

terse

1. third-person singular past historic of tergere

Adjective

terse f.

1. Plural of terso

Anagrams

• Ester

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Latin

Participle

terse

1. vocative masculine singular of tersus

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Venetian

Adjective

terse f.

1. feminine plural form of terso