praeceps Latin · revision 7137

16 Oct 2026, 13:18 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Plautus|origins=la prae, la caput}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈprae̯.kɛps]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈprɛː.t͡ʃeps]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''praeceps''' (genitive praecipitis); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is a possessive compound of [[prae]] “before” and [[caput]] “head”, with the combining form ⟨-ceps⟩, “having the head in front”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) Plautus and Ennius have the older ⟨praecipes⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of plunging headlong and of impetuous behaviour, with the old form ''praecipes''.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) It meant rushing forward, of winds and storms violent, as in Virgil, and of persons precipitate, impetuous.^(OLD 2012) From Cato it meant of ground steep, sheer, and figuratively dangerous, as in Cicero, and in Sallust sudden, instant, abrupt.^(OLD 2012) 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.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin ''praeceps'' meant a precipice, steep place, cliff.^(Stelten 1995) [[en|precipitous]] came in the 1640s from obsolete French ''precipiteux''.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses ''praecipes'' of plunging.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of steep ground.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of the sudden.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses the noun of a precipice.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Headlong, head first; of stars, setting; of age, declining.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Rushing forward; of winds, violent.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Impetuous, rash.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Steep, [[m|en|precipitous]]; dangerous.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Sudden; abrupt.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|precipice]], sheer drop, ''in praeceps'', headlong.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[praecipitium]]
+ * [[praecipitō]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[caput]]
+ * [[en|precipice]]
+ * [[en|precipitous]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}