precipice

See also: précipice

English

Alternative forms

• præcipice (archaic)

Etymology

First attested in 1598, from Middle French precipice, from Latin praecipitium (“a steep place”), from praeceps (“steep”), from prae + caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“head”).

Distantly related to English precept through Latin praecipiō (“to teach”), from prae + capiō (“take”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-, *keh₂p- (“to hold; to seize”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛsɪpɪs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛs.ə.pɪs/
• Hyphenation: preci‧pice

Noun

precipice (plural precipices)

1. A very steep cliff.
   • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:

     I resolved to remove my tent from the place where it stood, which was just under the hanging precipice of the hill; and which, if it should be shaken again, would certainly fall upon my tent […]

2. (figurative) The brink of a dangerous situation.

   to stand on a precipice

   • 2022 September 14, Arthur Neslen, quoting Noam Chomsky, “Health groups call for global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     In emailed comments supporting the new initiative, the laureate professor Noam Chomsky said: “Humans are marching towards a precipice. When we reach it, unthinkable catastrophe is inevitable. […] ”

3. (obsolete) A headlong fall or descent.

Synonyms

• cliff
• cliffdrop

Related terms

• precipitous
• precipitously
• precipitousness

Translations

very steep cliff

• Azerbaijani: sıldırım, uçurum (az)
• Basque: amildegi, malkar
• Bulgarian: урва (bg) f (urva)
• Catalan: precipici (ca) m, timba f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 懸崖／悬崖 (zh) (xuányá), 絕壁／绝壁 (zh) (juébì)

• Dutch: afgrond (nl) m
• Faroese: avgrund f, meitilberg n
• Finnish: jyrkänne (fi), kalliojyrkänne
• French: précipice (fr) m
• Georgian: ხრამი (xrami), უფსკრული (upsḳruli), ფლატე (plaṭe), კბოდე (ḳbode)
• German: Abgrund (de) m, Steilhang (de) m
• Greek: γκρεμνός (el) m (gkremnós), γκρεμός (el) m (gkremós)

  Ancient: κρημνός m (krēmnós)

• Hebrew: צוק (he) m
• Hindi: खड़ी चट्टान (khaṛī caṭṭān), दरद (hi) (darad)
• Interlingua: precipitio
• Italian: precipizio (it) m, dirupo (it) m, baratro (it) m, burrone (it) m
• Japanese: 絶壁 (ja) (ぜっぺき, zeppeki), 断崖 (ja) (だんがい, dangai)
• Korean: 절벽 (ko) (jeolbyeok)
• Latin: abruptum n
• Macedonian: у́рва f (úrva), про́паст f (própast)
• Maori: tupari, paritū, tūparengahua
• Old Norse: brant (Eastern dialect), bratt (Western dialect)
• Polish: przepaść (pl) f
• Portuguese: precipício (pt) m
• Romanian: prăpastie (ro) f, genune (ro), râpă (ro) f
• Russian: про́пасть (ru) f (própastʹ), обры́в (ru) m (obrýv)
• Sanskrit: पर्शान (sa) m (parśāna)
• Spanish: precipicio (es) m, despeñadero m
• Swedish: brant (sv) c
• Tarifit: addar m
• Tocharian B: yast
• Turkish: uçurum (tr)
• Ukrainian: прі́рва f (prírva), кру́ча f (krúča)

brink of a dangerous situation

• German: Abgrund (de) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Greek: ^{(please verify)} γκρεμός (el) m (gkremós), ^{(please verify)} κρημνός (el) m (krimnós), ^{(please verify)} βάραθρο (el) n (várathro), ^{(please verify)} χαράδρα (el) f (charádra)

Middle French

Noun

precipice m (plural precipices)

1. precipice (steep cliff)