Summary, n.; pl. Summaries.
Etymology: [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.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Summary, a.
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.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for summary; he lists it under abridgment.
Where he writes about it:
A summary is the most condensed statement of results or conclusions. — from abridgment
We may have an abridgment of a dictionary, but not an analysis, abstract, digest, or summary. — from abridgment
The summary is compacted to the utmost, often to the point of abruptness; as, we speak of a summary statement or a summary dismissal. — from terse
Antonyms
none given