precipice English · revision 1650

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpɹɛsɪpɪs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|précipice]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la|praecipitium|t=a headlong fall; a steep place]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''praeceps'' “headlong, steep”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''prae-'' “before” and ''caput'' “head”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It is related to [[precipitate]] and [[precipitous]].^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A headlong fall or descent, especially to a great depth (1598), a sense now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1632 the word meant a very steep cliff or rock face,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and by the 1650s (1651) it was used figuratively of a perilous situation.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Etymonline records an earlier verb (1590s) meaning “to fall to a great depth”.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1613.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1598 – a headlong fall, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1613 – Merriam-Webster's date.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1632 – a very steep cliff.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1651 – a perilous situation.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A very steep or overhanging rock face; a [[cliff]] or [[crag]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[brink]] of a dangerous or disastrous situation, as in ''on the precipice of war''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[precipiced]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[precipitous]]

+ * [[precipitate]]

+ * [[head]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}