A yearly trip to Japan has become the norm for us, especially with two granddaughters there. Patti desired to extend her stay this time to help with the new addition to the family. I was able to exact a promise from her to fill the freezer with lots of prepared meals for me while she prolonged her stay.
Exact, as a verb, means to call for urgently, or forcibly, and obtain it. Reflecting on the German surrender in May 1945 of the end of World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote in 1945 Victory Order of the Day, “From them has been exacted the ultimate sacrifice; blood of many nations—American, British, Canadian, French, Polish and others—has helped to gain the victory."
Exact is derived from the Latin word exigere, meaning to drive out or force out. In later Latin exigere implied to demand or require. Revenge and retribution are often exacted by physical force. Promises and concessions can be exacted with persuasion.
Careful that you do not confuse exact with extract. Extract is about removing something that does not involve a demand. A dentist extracts a tooth from a willing patient. Confessions are sometimes exacted or extracted depending upon the effort by the one obtaining the confession.
Synonyms for exact can be demand, claim, and require as they ask or call for something as due or as necessary.
Demand suggests insistence, and often the right, to make requests that are to be regarded as commands. Sam demanded the payment of the debt immediately, even though he had been forgiven a much larger debt by his other friend.
Claim implies a mandate for the delivery or concession of something due as one’s own or one’s right. She tried to make it clear to her parents that she had a claim to manage her own affairs.
Require infers the imperativeness that arises from necessity, compulsion of law, or the exigencies of the situation. After serious surgery patients require constant attention for a few days.
Exact also functions as an adjective meaning exhibiting or marked by strict and complete accordance with fact or a standard. Before awarding the point in the curling end the referee took exact measurements of the rocks.
The past-participle form of the Latin word exigere is exactus, meaning precise. Exactus eventually expanded from a strict measurement to describing things that are completely accurate and true.
Synonyms of exact (the adjective) include correct, nice, and right.
Correct implies freedom from fault or error. When one attends the Royal Ascot races, you must wear the socially correct attire.
Nice stresses great precision and delicacy of discrimination. In the manual it makes nice distinctions between the pressure on tightness on the various blots.
Right has a strong positive emphasis on conformity to fact or truth, rather than mere absence of error fault as in the word correct. He returned the money with a heavy heart, but he knew it was the right thing to do.
Exact can also mean to call for as necessary or desirable. Changing the fitting on the natural gas meter is a task so delicate that it exacts a professional for safety reasons and an inspection later.
The current president of the United States exacts absolute loyalty from cabinet members or they will not last long in their position. I would not have refused to let Patti stay longer in Japan if I had not exacted the promises of freezer food, but it would have been more challenging for me, and I am very relieved that she agreed.
Columnist John Kreutzwieser loves to research words and has an interest in the usage, origin, and relevance of words for society today. Greek and Latin form the basis of many words, with ancient Hebrew shedding light on word usage.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
