exact

Etymology

From Latin exāctus (the verb via Middle English exact), perfect passive participle of exigō (“demand, claim as due; measure by a standard, weigh, test”), from ex (“out”) + agō (“drive”).

adj

1. Precisely agreeing with a standard, a fact, or the truth; perfectly conforming; neither exceeding nor falling short in any respect.
   The clock keeps exact time.
   He paid the exact debt.
   an exact copy of a letter
   exact accounts
2. Habitually careful to agree with a standard, a rule, or a promise; accurate; methodical; punctual.
   a man exact in observing an appointment
   In my doings I was exact.
   During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant[…] 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
3. Precisely or definitely conceived or stated; strict.
4. (algebra, of a sequence of groups connected by homomorphisms) Such that the kernel of one homomorphism is the image of the preceding one.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To demand and enforce the payment or performance of, sometimes in a forcible or imperious way.
   to exact tribute, fees, or obedience from someone
   Their goal is retributive: to exact a price from Palestinian civilians (and in some cases left-wing Israeli Jews, Christians, and Israeli security forces) for actions Israeli authorities take against the settlers, usually building enforcement in illegally built settlements. 2018, Edo Konrad, “Living in the constant shadow of settler violence”, in +972 Magazine
   She was a superb judge who gave her best and exacted the best from each of us, whether in agreement or disagreement. 2020 September 19, statement of Clarence Thomas on the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburghttps://www.scotusblog.com/2020/09/statements-from-supreme-court-justices-on-the-death-of-justice-ginsburg/
   […] a generic, strikingly universal, deity, “ha-elohim,” who tests, who exacts and extracts, and who is the object of fear […] 2020, Kristine Henriksen Garroway, John W. Martens, Children and Methods, page 139
2. (transitive) To make desirable or necessary.
   My designs exact me in another place. 1632, Philip Massinger, The Maid of Honour
3. (transitive) To inflict; to forcibly obtain or produce.
   to exact revenge on someone

adv

1. exactly
   She's wearing the exact same sweater as I am!