the word 'succinct' originates from the latin 'succinctus', the past participle of 'succingere', which means 'to tuck up, to gird from below'. this literal action of tucking up one's garments to make them shorter and less cumbersome evolved into a metaphorical sense of making speech or writing 'shortened' and free from excess. the core semantic link is from the physical act of being 'girded up' to the abstract quality of being concise and compressed in expression. it entered middle english via old french, retaining its figurative meaning of brevity.

Structure: suc (from below) + cinct (girded) suc- (variant of 'sub-'), from latin 'sub', meaning 'under, from below'. -cinct, from latin 'cinctus', past participle of 'cingere', meaning 'to gird, to encircle'.