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Precision vs Preciseness

Precision, preciseness both denote the quality or character of what is precise.

Precision denotes a quality that is sought for or is attained usually as a highly desirable thing. When used in reference to language it implies expression with such exactitude that neither more nor less than what applies to the thing under consideration is said.

When used in reference to the arts and sciences, the term usually implies such clearness of definition or such sharpness in distinction or in distinguishing that there is no confusion about outlines, boundaries, dividing lines, or movements.

Precision is also used in reference to an instrument, a machine, or a part of a machine that must be made with such exactness of measurements that an infinitesimal fraction of an inch would debar it from fulfilling its function.

Preciseness is rarely interchangeable with precision, since it carries so strong an implication of severity or of strictness, or sometimes of overnicety in the observance of religious laws, the code of one’s profession, or the proprieties as dictated by one’s class or social equals that it is depreciative as often as it is laudatory.