precipice

noun

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

1. A very steep cliff.

   “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. The brink of a dangerous situation.

   “to stand on a precipice”

   “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. A headlong fall or descent.