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A.Word.A.Day--conspectus

This week's theme: Words about books

noun: A general survey, synopsis, outline, or digest of something.

[From Latin conspectus, past participle of conspicere, from con- (complete) + spicere (to look). Ultimately from Indo-European root spek- (to observe) which is also the ancestor of such words as suspect, spectrum, bishop (literally, overseer), espionage, despise, telescope, spectator, and spectacles.]

"Meanwhile, for a well-informed, critical, independent-minded but essentially traditional view of the subject, we have a new conspectus [Europe's Reformations] by James D. Tracy. He is masterly in absorbing information and masterful in organizing it -- skeptical of fashion, clear in exposition, fluent in communication, unremittingly scholarly."
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto; Real Zeal; New York Times Book Review, Jun 11, 2000.

See more usage examples of conspectus in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

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