'precision-cut' is a modern English compound formed from 'precision' + 'cut'. 'precision' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'praecisus' (from the verb 'praecidere'), where the prefix 'prae-' meant 'before' and 'caedere' meant 'to cut'. 'cut' originates from Middle English 'cutten' (influenced by Old Norse forms), originally meaning 'to cut'.

'precision' passed into English via Old French 'précision' and Middle English 'precision'; 'cut' appears in Middle English as 'cutten' (with possible Old Norse influence), and the compound 'precision-cut' developed in modern English to describe objects cut with precise dimensions.

Initially, elements related to 'precision' derived from roots meaning 'to cut off' ('praecidere'), but the sense shifted toward 'exactness' and 'exact measurement'; 'cut' has kept its basic sense of removing or shaping by cutting. The compound came to mean 'cut with exactness'.