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”). First meaning of the noun is recorded from 1632.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛsɪpɪs/
- Audio (Southern England) (file)
(weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɛs.ə.pɪs/
Hyphenation: preci‧pice

Noun

precipice (plural precipices)

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 […]
(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:
  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. […] ”
(obsolete) A headlong fall or descent.

Synonyms

Related terms

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)

precipice (steep cliff)

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