praecipitium Latin · revision 4339

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Seneca the Elder|origins=la praeceps}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''praecipitium''' ''n'' (genitive praecipitiī or praecipitī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|praeceps|-ium|t1=headlong, steep]], from its oblique stem [[m|la|praecipit-]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) Lewis & Short derive it from the verb [[praecipito|alt=praecipitō]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''Praeceps'' is from [[m|la|prae-]] and [[caput]] “head”.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Seneca the Elder uses it of a steep place, and Köbler dates the younger Seneca 4 BC–65 AD.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010) Suetonius, in his life of Augustus, has someone pushed over a precipice.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The OLD defines it as a fall or leap from a great height, as in Pliny the Elder.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It was a steep place, a precipice, and Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Lactantius and Orosius use it of a headlong fall, and Orosius of a voluntary one.^(Georges 1913) The Vulgate uses it in Judith, and figuratively it was a dangerous path.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was a fall, and throwing from a height as a way of killing.^(DMLBS) English ''precipice'' came through French in the 1630s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of falls.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a precipice.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of a headlong fall.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1630s – English ''precipice'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A fall or leap from a height.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A steep place, [[m|en|precipice]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Throwing from a height as an execution.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[praeceps]]

+ * [[en|precipice]]

+ * [[en|precipitate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}