Definition: summary

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

summary
     adj 1: performed speedily and without formality; "a summary
            execution"; "summary justice" [syn: drumhead]
     2: briefly giving the gist of something; "a short and
        compendious book"; "a compact style is brief and pithy";
        "succinct comparisons"; "a summary formulation of a
        wide-ranging subject" [syn: compendious, compact, succinct]
     n : brief account that presents the main points in a concise
         form [syn: summarization, summarisation]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Summary \Sum"ma*ry\, a. [Cf. F. sommaire. See Sum.]
   1. Formed into a sum; summed up; reduced into a narrow
      compass, or into few words; short; brief; concise;
      compendious; as, a summary statement of facts.

   2. Hence, rapidly performed; quickly executed; as, a summary
      process; to take summary vengeance.

   Syn: Short; brief; concise; compendious; succinct.
Summary \Sum"ma*ry\, n.; pl. Summaries. [F. sommaire, or L.
   summarium. See Summary, a.]
   A general or comprehensive statement; an abridged account; an
   abstract, abridgment, or compendium, containing the sum or
   substance of a fuller account.