Accurate

How to spell accurate

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce accurate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does accurate mean?

1. adjectiveCorrect in every detail; free from error.

Accurate in a sentence

• The report gave an accurate summary of the quarterly figures.

• A good surgeon needs steady hands and accurate judgement.

Where does accurate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin accuratus, the past participle of the verb accurare, which meant 'to perform with care' or 'to attend to carefully'. That verb was built from the prefix ad-, meaning 'to' or 'towards', and the noun cura, meaning 'care' or 'attention'; the same cura sits inside everyday words such as 'cure', 'curious', and 'manicure'. So at its heart, something accurate is something done with great care, and that buried idea of 'care' is a useful memory hook, because the double c and the cur in the middle both come from accurare. English adopted the word in the late 1500s, originally describing work done painstakingly, and the modern sense of 'exact' or 'free from error' settled in soon after. The spelling trap is the doubled c followed by the unstressed -ate ending, which many adults reduce to a vague schwa when writing.

How the word is built

• ac- (from ad-: to, towards)
• cur (from cura: care)
• -ate (adjective suffix)