Accurate or precise?

[rappiolla]

I'm trying to learn the difference between accurate and precise which, I assume, is subtle.

The context is : 'For a precise (accurate?) measurement of the room temperature, this thermometer requires waiting 1 minute'.

 

[Mehrgan]

I'm trying to learn the difference between accurate and precise which, I assume, is subtle.

The context is : 'For a precise (accurate?) measurement of the room temperature, this thermometer requires waiting 1 minute'.

***not a teacher***
I suppose "accurate" is used for something done/copied carefully, and just like what it was expected to be. And "precise" shows the exact amount, or the true detail of a number/temperature/time and so on.

Hope Sb will add some explanation.

 

[Mehrgan]

I hope some dear posters correct me if I'm wrong. My interpretation is, in this case if we use "precise" for measurement, it'll refer to the result (which is a number) and how exact that number will be. And if "accurate" is used, it'll suggest that the action of measuring would be carefully done for a precise result.

Thanks.

 

[5jj]

They sometimes appear to be used as near-synonyms. The Concise Oxford Dictionary unhelpfully informs us:

accurate [...] 1. careful, precise
precise [...] 1a. accurately expressed

To me, 'accurate' carries an idea of 'correctness' that 'precise' does not, but this may be just a personal view.

 

[rappiolla]

I hope some dear posters correct me if I'm wrong. My interpretation is, in this case if we use "precise" for measurement, it'll refer to the result (which is a number) and how exact that number will be. And if "accurate" is used, it'll suggest that the action of measuring would be carefully done for a precise result.

Thanks.

This bears out what I thought: accurate has a meaning close to careful.

 

[Raymott]

This bears out what I thought: accurate has a meaning close to careful.

If I guess the age of someone as being "27 yrs, 4 mths and 3 days", that's a very precise guess. But if she's actually 25, "about 25" would be a more accurate, though less precise guess.

A micrometer can give a much more precise measurement than a ruler can. But if the micrometer is badly calibrated, the precise measurement might not be as accurate as ruler's measurement.

This explains it further:
Accuracy and precision - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[SoothingDave]

Accuracy is how close you are to hitting the mark. Precision is how repeatable you are.