Legal Definitions - précis

Definition: Précis (pronounced pray-see or pray-seez) is a French word that means a brief summary of the essential points of a text. It is also known as an abstract.

Example: After reading a long article about climate change, you might write a précis that summarizes the main ideas in just a few sentences. For example:

Climate change is caused by human activity, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation. It is leading to rising temperatures, sea level rise, and more extreme weather events. To address this issue, we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and transition to renewable energy sources.

This précis condenses the main ideas of the article into a few sentences, making it easier to understand and remember the key points.

Explanation: A précis is a useful tool for summarizing a longer text, such as an article or book. It helps to distill the most important information and present it in a clear and concise way. By writing a précis, you can better understand the text and communicate its main ideas to others.