A very steep cliff or edge of a mountain, or a dangerous situation where something bad might happen very suddenly.
From Latin 'praeceps'—'prae' (before) and 'caput' (head), literally meaning 'headlong.' It described the dangerous cliffs where someone might fall head-first, and evolved to mean any dangerous brink.
The word 'precipice' and 'precipitate' (to cause something to happen suddenly) share the same Latin root because both involve a sudden, headlong motion—one physical, one metaphorical.
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