A précis is a short piece of writing that gives only the main idea of a longer text, a speech, or an article — the bones, not the clothes. Teachers set précis writing so you prove you understood a passage and can say it again in far fewer words, in your own words, without your own opinions climbing in. Offices and exams still use the word. It came from French précis, which as an adjective means “precise, exact”; English borrowed the noun for “an exact short account.” Precise is a doublet: same French word, different job in English. Precise means exact; a précis is the short exact summary. You may also hear it as a verb: to précis a chapter is to write that short account of it. Though actually, almost nobody says this in the street. They say summary, or “give me the short version.” Keep the mark on the e if you can (précis), and say it PRAY-see, not “PREC-iss” and not “prices.” One précis, two précis: the written form does not add s in the usual way.

摘要、大意（學校裡的縮寫練習常叫寫 précis）