précipiter French · revision 17639

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1386|origins=la caput}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁe.si.pi.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''précipiter'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|praecipitō|t=to throw down headlong; to hasten]], derived from [[m|la|praeceps|t=headlong]], formed from [[m|la|prae|t=before, forward]] and [[m|la|caput|t=head]], the source of [[chef]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|9, 281b)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Bloch and Wartburg date the word to 1386; the first texts with a clear sense are from 1442, ''presser, hâter quelqu'un'', and before 1442 in Pierre de Nesson's paraphrase of Job, to cast someone down from a high position.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ All the senses were fixed before the end of the 17th century.^(DHLF 1992) Figuratively it meant to make someone fall from a high position, and, from the mid-15th century to plunge someone into a dangerous or painful situation;^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Molière (1661) uses it for passing from elation to dejection, a sense now obsolete.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The concrete sense is represented by ''se précipiter'', to throw oneself from a height (1466), and the transitive verb (1495), now literary.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ From the idea of falling came the chemical sense, first in ''mercure précipité'' (1555), then to cause a substance in solution to settle (1663).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The sense of hurrying was extended: to speed something up (Du Bellay, 1552), to decide hastily (1556), to bring an event nearer (1559), and ''se précipiter'' to rush (Amyot, 1559) and, from 1665, to dash toward something.^(TLFi) The noun [[précipitation]] dates from 1429.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1386 – First record, in Bloch and Wartburg.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1442 – “To hurry someone”.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1442 – “To cast down”, in Pierre de Nesson.^(TLFi)

+ * 1466 – ''Se précipiter'' “to throw oneself down”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1552 – Du Bellay: to hasten.^(TLFi)

+ * 1555 – ''Mercure précipité''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – Amyot: ''se précipiter'' “to rush”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1663 – Glaser: the chemical sense.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To throw down from a height: ''précipiter dans le vide''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To plunge (someone) into a bad situation; to bring down.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|hasten]], [[m|en|rush]]: ''précipiter son départ'', ''précipiter les événements''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' To [[m|en|precipitate]] (a substance from a solution).^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Se précipiter'': to throw oneself down; to rush, dash: ''se précipiter vers la sortie''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Se précipiter'': to speed up: ''les événements se précipitent''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[précipité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[précipitamment]]

+ * [[précipitation]]

+ * [[précipice]]

+ * [[la|praeceps]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}