terse

adj
/tɜːs/UK/tɝːs/CA

Etymology

From Latin tersus (“clean, cleansed, rubbed or wiped off; neat, spruce; terse”), perfect passive participle of Latin tergeō, tergō (“to clean, cleanse, rub, wipe, wipe off”).

  1. derived from tergō — “to clean, cleanse, rub, wipe, wipe off
  2. derived from tersus

Definitions

  1. Of speech or style

    Of speech or style: brief, concise, to the point.

    • In eight terse lines has Phædrus told / (So frugal were the Bards of old) / A Tale of Goats; and clos'd with grace / Plan, Moral, all, in that ſhort space.
    • Your last series contains some of the neatest, tersest, and most unpretendingly original criticism, I have lately met with.
  2. Of manner or speech

    Of manner or speech: abruptly or brusquely short; curt.

    • 'Laura!' The voice halting her was terse. Brusque. She turned. [...] 'Before I go,' he said, and his voice was terse, tighter than ever. 'I want to ensure you understand something.'
    • My voice was terser than I intended, but what the hell. The night was turning out to be interesting in some ways and extremely frustrating in others.
  3. Burnished, polished

    Burnished, polished; fine, smooth; neat, spruce.

    • By Phœbus, here's a moſt neate fine ſtreete; is't not? I proteſt to thee, I am enamord of this ſtreete now, more then of halfe the ſtreetes of Rome, againe; tis ſo polite, and terſe; [...]

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at terse. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01terse02fine03angle04sphere05heavens06departed07dead08barren09sterile

A definitional loop anchored at terse. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at terse

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA