precipice

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɹɛsɪpɪs/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French précipice,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin praecipitium (“a headlong fall; a steep place”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from praeceps “headlong, steep”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from prae- “before” and caput “head”.^[3][4][5][6] It is related to precipitate and precipitous.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A headlong fall or descent, especially to a great depth (1598), a sense now obsolete.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

By 1632 the word meant a very steep cliff or rock face,^[7][3][4] and by the 1650s (1651) it was used figuratively of a perilous situation.^[7][4] Etymonline records an earlier verb (1590s) meaning “to fall to a great depth”.^[4] Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1613.^[5]

Timeline

• 1598 – a headlong fall, now obsolete.^[7][3]
• 1613 – Merriam-Webster's date.^[5]
• 1632 – a very steep cliff.^[7][3]
• 1651 – a perilous situation.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A very steep or overhanging rock face; a cliff or crag.
2. The brink of a dangerous or disastrous situation, as in on the precipice of war.

Word family

• precipiced

Related words

• precipitous
• precipitate
• head

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press