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▪ I. exact, a.|ɛgˈzækt|
[ad. L. exact-us, pa. pple. of exigĕre: see exact v.
The L. adj. has the senses (1) ‘highly finished, consummate’, from the vb. in the sense ‘to complete, bring to perfection’, and (2) ‘accurate, precise’, from the vb. in the sense ‘to calculate precisely’. See exact v.]
I. Perfected, consummate, ‘finished’.
†1. Of qualities, conditions, attainments, etc.: Consummate, finished, refined, perfect. Rarely in bad sense. Obs.
Expressions like ‘exact taste’ have a mixed notion of sense 5 b, to which the later instances should perh. be referred.
1633G. Herbert Temple, Providence viii, We all acknowledge both thy power and love To be exact, transcendent, and divine. a1659Osborn Queries Epist. (1673) S s iv b, The imployment of Children in their exactest Innocencie, being to make Houses and raise Pies of Dirt. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd., The hearing is most exact in the hare. 1676Hale Contempl. i. 123 They..pursued..their Redeemer with..exact Bitterness. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. iii. iii. (1852) 546 Certain Indians, whose exacter education he was desirous of. 1726W. R. Chetwood Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 203 Every Feature so exact and uniform..that I was amaz'd. 1727Swift To a very yng. Lady, A man..of an excellent understanding, and an exact taste.
†2. Of persons: Highly skilled, accomplished, (in taste) refined. Obs.
1599Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 28 Baldwine a Deuonshire man..was a very eloquent man, an exact Philosopher. c1616Fletcher Q. Corinth i. ii, A Lady of your youth..a most exact lady, may doe all this Out of a vertuous love. 1656R. Robinson Christ All 80 Christ, he is as exact in all spiritual diseases as he is in any disease. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 1017 Eve, now I see thou art exact of taste. 1725Pope Odyss. xvi. 275 Two Sew'rs..Exact of taste.
†3. Of material objects: Highly wrought, elaborate. Of buildings, etc.: Well-designed. Obs.
1667Milton P.L. vii. 477 Smallest Lineaments exact In all the Liveries dect of Summers pride. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 89 A very Exact house and gardens.
II. Precise, rigorous, accurate.
4. Of law and its administration, rules, order, procedure, etc.: Admitting of no deviation, precise, rigorous. † Of diet: Strictly regulated.
1538Starkey England i. ii. 52 Hyt was not possybul sodeynly, by exacte law and pollycy, to bryng such a rude multytude to perfayt cyvylyte. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. ii. (1611) 4 Observeth in working a most exact order or lawe. 1732Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 355 The Patient..may protract a miserable Life with an exact thin Diet of Whey Broths, etc. 1748Hartley Observ. Man i. iii. 296 Here there is the exactest Uniformity. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. iii. 414 The troops were kept in such exact discipline, that the people..remained in their houses. 1870Emerson Soc. & Solit., Eloq. Wks. (Bohn) III. 41 Eloquence..rests on laws the most exact and determinate.
5. a. Of actions, processes, investigations, knowledge, etc.: Accurate in detail, strict, rigorous.
1533More Apol. i. Wks. 845/2 Suche exacte cyrcumspeccion..to be by me vsed in my wryting. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 6 b, There nedeth..an exacter diligence. 1603Jas. I in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 244. III. 81 How waire judgis should be in trusting accusations withoute an exacte tryall. 1658Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 324 That Tho. Johnson and Robt Chilton doe take an exact veiw of all the leads about the church. 1791Cowper Odyss. i. 549 Folding it with the exactest care. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, He gave an exact acquaintance with every part of elegant literature. 1857Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 19, I shall act upon it in the most exact manner. 1857Buckle Civiliz. I. vii. 337 [Boyle] was the first who instituted exact experiments into the relation between colour and heat.
b. Of persons or their faculties: Characterized by accuracy of knowledge, observation, statement, workmanship, conduct, etc. Of a judge, etc.: Strict, rigorous.
1597Bacon Ess., Studies (Arb.) 10 Reading maketh a full man, conference a readye man, and writing an exacte man. 1607Shakes. Timon ii. ii. 165 Call me before th'exactest Auditors And set me on the proofe. 1659Hammond On Ps. cxliii. 2 Paraphr. 690 To appear with hope or comfort before thine exact tribunal! 1682Burnet Rights Princes v. 148 Mezeray is the exacter Writer. 1696Whiston Th. Earth i. (1722) 34, I have followed our most exact Observer Mr. Flamstead. 1725Pope Odyss. xxi. 439 The bow perusing with exactest eye. 1780Cowper Table-t. 646 Then Pope, as harmony itself exact..Gave Virtue and Morality a grace. 1848M. Arnold Poems 1877 I. 26, I..Am the exacter labourer. 1849Grote Greece ii. xlvii. (1862) IV. 144 The poorer citizens..were more exact in obedience and discipline.
6. Of ideas, images, representations, expressions, descriptions, resemblances, etc.: Perfectly corresponding, strictly correct, precise, accurate.
1645Milton Tetrach. (1851) 236 The visible and exactest figure of lonelines it selfe. 1663Cowley Royal Society iv, Who to the Life an exact Piece would make. 1672Wilkins Nat. Relig. 400 This book contains as the most ancient, so the most exact story of the world. 1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty iii. 19 The exact similarity of the two halves of the face. 1782Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. i. 79 It is not easy to give an exact translation of this passage. 1796H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 178 Such a one is able to form in his own mind an exact idea of order. 1816Scott Antiq. vii, It was some time before they [shouts] were in exact response to their own. 1881Tylor Anthropol. v. 133 Man's efforts to get easier, fuller, and exacter expression for his thoughts.
7. a. Of a calculated result, a quantity or quantitative relation, a position, figure, date, etc.: Precise as opposed to approximate. Also with defining word: That is precisely what is designated; = ‘(the) precise’.
1601Shakes. All's Well iii. vi. 65 The merit of seruice is sildome attributed to the true and exact performer. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 187 The Cutting and the Pruning were perform'd in such and such an exact Minute of the Moon. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. iii. §1. 21 The pupil, under all its different dimensions, retains its exact circular shape. 1806Hutton Course Math. I. 205 When the given surd contains no exact power, it is already in its most simple terms. 1849M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. iv. 32 Not following the exact law of gravity. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. vii. 50 The exact appearance of a mountain of cast copper. 1861F. Nightingale Nursing 5 The exact value of particular remedies..is by no means ascertained. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 7 At the instant of reaching its greatest height, or in other words at exact noon. a1891Mod. These are his exact words. A is an exact multiple of B.
b. Calculus. exact differential, a linear differential function of two or more variables that is equal to the total differential of some function of those variables. Also exact (differential) equation (see quot. 1959).
1825D. Lardner Elem. Treat. Differential & Integral Calculus ii. xvii. 284 As there are many differentials of two variables which are not exact differentials, so also there are many differential equations which are not the immediate differentials of any primitive equation. 1877B. Williamson Differential Calculus (ed. 3) vi. 143 Condition that Pdx + Qdy shall be a total Differential.—This implies that Pdx + Qdy should be the exact differential of some function of x and y. 1920H. T. H. Piaggio Elem. Treat. Differential Equations ii. 12 The expression ydx + xdy is an exact differential. Thus the equation ydx + xdy = o..is called an exact equation. 1958Van Nostrand's Sci. Encycl. (ed. 3) 511/1 Suppose that an integrating factor, v exists so that vL(u)dx is an exact differential. 1959G. & R. C. James Math. Dict. (ed. 2) 116/1 Exact differential equation, a differential equation which is obtained by setting the total differential of some function equal to zero.
8. Of methods, instruments of research, language, etc.: Characterized by precision, not admitting of vagueness or uncertainty. exact sciences: those which admit of absolute precision in their results; esp. the mathematical sciences.
1665Phil. Trans. I. 37 Having no instruments exact enough. 1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. Pref. (1689) 4 Perfect knowledge of the exactest ways of the practical part of the Art. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) II. 73 The exactest arts of building ships..were not unknown to him. 1841Myers Cath. Th. iii. §7. 22 No spoken language has yet been found exact enough to express the highest generalisations. 1863Fawcett Pol. Econ. i. i. 3 All who have studied an exact science must have experienced the formidable difficulties which elementary chapters invariably present. 1866J. Martineau Ess. I. 3 The exact sciences constituted the preponderant discipline. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 26 Of the creative arts..we may make two classes—the less exact and the more exact.
†9. As adv. = exactly. Obs.
1677Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 407 In seeming exact-suiting scripture suggested. 1692Locke Educ. §11 Nature..works of her self a great deal better and exacter than we can direct her. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 182 Guide his Foot the firmer and exacter. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. ii. ii. 97 There's a Rehearsal, Sir, exact at one. 1791Cowper Yardley Oak 36 Two lobes, protruding, paired exact.
▪ II. † eˈxact, pple. Obs. rare—1.
[? ad. L. exact-us, pa. pple. of exigĕre: see exact v.]
Drawn forth by descent, descended.
1602Warner Alb. Eng. xi. lxi. (1612) 267 Of noble Parentage and rich was Mandeuil exact.
▪ III. exact, v.|ɛgˈzækt|
[f. L. exact- ppl. stem of exigĕre, f. ex out + agĕre to drive. The lit. sense is thus ‘to drive or force out’; hence the various derivative senses ‘to demand, require’; ‘to try, weigh accurately’; ‘to complete, bring to perfection’; with other significations not retained in the English derivative.]
1. trans. To demand and enforce the payment of (fees, money, taxes, tolls, penalties, etc.); to extort. Const. from, of, † on, † upon.
1529More Supplic Soulys Wks. 308/1 The freres quarterage, which he sayd that thei exacte of euery houshold. 1531in W. H. Turner Select Rec. Oxford 102 The Mayre..and Burgesses..exact apon them..tolls. 1548Forrest Pleas. Poesy in Starkey's England App. 95 Too reyse his Rent alas it neadethe not or fyne texact for teanure of the same. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxviii. 164 Where a Law exacteth a Pecuniary Mulct. 1661Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 68 In it [the Patent] none of those fees or summs exacted are specifyd. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 4 They take occasion to exact from Passengers..arbitrary..Sums. 1749Fielding Tom Jones i. vi, Flatterers..exact the same taxes on all below them which they themselves pay to all above them. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Voy. to Eng. Wks. (Bohn) II. 14 This seafaring people..exacted toll..from the ships of all other peoples.
†b. To require or enforce the surrender of (an object). Obs.
1655–60Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 468/2 His Books burnt..After that they had been diligently exacted of all that had any of them.
c. loosely. To inflict (vengeance). Const. against, from.
1858Froude Hist. Eng. III. xii. 3 The revenge which he would one day exact against his uncle. 1874Green Short Hist. ii. 65 The King angrily bade him exact vengeance from the town.
†d. With personal obj. To extort money, etc. from; to oppress with exactions. Obs.
1534Act 26 Hen. VIII, c. 6. §2 The officers..unlawfully exacted the Kinges subiectes. 1597Daniel Civ. Wares iii. lxxxix, The poor concussed state Shall ever be exacted for supplies.
2. To require by force or with authority the performance of (duty, labour, etc.), the concession of (anything desired); to insist upon. Const. from, of; in early use sometimes with clause or inf. as obj.
1564Golding tr. Justin (1570) 87 The common people..importunately exacted to haue all dettes clerely released. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 97 The courtesie which I exact of you. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. i. v, Let my breath exact You strike sad tones unto this dismal act. 1638R. West in Jonsonus Virb. 56 Thou exact'st our best houres industrie. 1665Manley Grotius' Low-C. Warres 175 All the Wealth is almost in their Hands, whereof an Account is exacted. 1690Norris Beatitudes (1694) I. 148 A Precept..too perfect to be severely exacted in that Infant Age. 1754Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. iii. 95 Christ came to exact Obedience from every Creature. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 235 Ever since the reign of Elizabeth the oath of supremacy had been exacted from members of the House of Commons. 1863F. A. Kemble Resid. Georgia 39 Labor exacted with stripes. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 91 William exacted strict attendance at divine service from all his company.
3. Of circumstances, conditions, dignities, etc.: To render becoming, desirable, necessary, or unavoidable; to call for, demand, require. Const. from, of, rarely with direct personal obj. and inf.
1592West Symbol. §56. C ij b, Then followeth the drawing of such Instruments in forme..as the qualitie of the fact or contract exacteth. 1601Bp. Barlow Serm. Paules Crosse 27 The crowne exacteth of us reuerence. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. ii, Our state exactes, Our subjects not alone to beare, but praise our acts. 1672Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal (1714) 47 The place you fill, has more than amply exacted the Tallents of a wary Pilot. 1680Boyle Scept. Chem. v. 289, I must withhold my Beleef..till their Experiments exact it. 1683D. A. Art Converse 18 Their gray hairs exact of us a particular respect. 1853C. Brontë Villette xxx. (1876) 344 No form of friendship under the sun had a right to exact such a concession. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxxi. 423 The scurvy exacts a comfortable temperature and a drying one.
†4. intr. To practise exactions, impose contributions. Const. on, upon. Also in indirect pass.
c1591in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 78 Gevinge to the nobilitie..vnjuste..libertie to exact on the baser sorte of people. 1611Bible Ps. lxxxix. 22 The enemie shall not exact vpon him. a1619Daniel Coll. Hist. Eng. (1621) 35 He was again informed..how he exacted upon the Normans. 1679in Gutch Coll. Cur. I. 276 Others were exacted upon in what they bought. 1687Burnet Trav. ii. (1750) 86 Innkeepers think they have a right to exact upon Strangers. 1727Swift Modest Prop. Wks. 1755 II. ii. 67 To cheat and exact upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness.
5. trans. In etymological sense: To force out, extract. arch.
1639Fuller Holy War ii. xliv. (1647) 103 It passeth my Chymistrie to exact any agreement herein out of the contrariety of writers. 1674Govt. Tongue vi. §23. 130 We do like witches with their magical chymistry, exact all the venom. 1883R. Bridges Prometheus (1884) 6 He next withdrew The seeds of fire that else had still lain hid In..the blue flakes of flint For man to exact and use.
6. In various occasional uses:
†a. To interpret rigorously (obs.).
†b. To render exact, finish, perfect (obs.).
c. nonce-use (after L. exigere). To produce (a work of art).
1646J. Gregory Notes & Obs. (1650) 27 This [Matt. ii. 12] is a strange Phrase, if it should be exacted by our manner of expressing. 1669Barrow in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 67, I have tore out some leaves..which I shall send you somewhat more exacted. 1870Ruskin Lect. Art iii. (1875) 70, I think the ‘Dunciad’ is the most absolutely chiselled and monumental work ‘exacted’ in our country.
7. Law. (See quots.)
1607J. Cowell Interpr. s.v. Exigent, This writ..seemeth to be called an Exigent because it exacteth the party, that is, requireth his expearance or forthcomming, to answer the lawe. 1769Blackstone Comm. III. 283 A writ of exigent or exigi facias..which requires the sheriff to cause the defendant to be proclaimed, required, or exacted, in five county courts successively, to render himself;..if he does not appear, he shall then be outlawed.
transf.1858Hogg Life Shelley I. 289 Shelley..ought to have been exacted five times..before the outrageous sentence of outlawry was passed against him. |