praeceps

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈprae̯.kɛps]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈprɛː.t͡ʃeps]^[1]

Forms

praeceps (genitive praecipitis); third-declension one-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is a possessive compound of prae “before” and caput “head”, with the combining form ⟨-ceps⟩, “having the head in front”.^[2][1][3] Plautus and Ennius have the older ⟨praecipes⟩.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of plunging headlong and of impetuous behaviour, with the old form praecipes.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant head first, plunging headlong, as Cicero's throwing someone down praecipitem, of heavenly bodies setting, of constellations appearing upside down, and of age declining.^[2][6] It meant rushing forward, of winds and storms violent, as in Virgil, and of persons precipitate, impetuous.^[2] From Cato it meant of ground steep, sheer, and figuratively dangerous, as in Cicero, and in Sallust sudden, instant, abrupt.^[2] As a neuter noun it meant a precipice, a sheer drop, as in Livy, and in praeceps headlong, in praecipitī on the brink of disaster.^[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin praeceps meant a precipice, steep place, cliff.^[7] English precipitous came in the 1640s from obsolete French precipiteux.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses praecipes of plunging.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of steep ground.^[2][5]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of the sudden.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses the noun of a precipice.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Headlong, head first; of stars, setting; of age, declining.^[2]
2. Rushing forward; of winds, violent.^[2]
3. Impetuous, rash.^[2]
4. Steep, precipitous; dangerous.^[2]
5. Sudden; abrupt.^[2]

Noun

1. A precipice, sheer drop, in praeceps, headlong.^[2]

Word family

• praecipitium
• praecipitō

Related words

• caput
• English precipice
• English precipitous

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com