precipitate
/pɹɪˈsɪpɪteɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.78 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To have water in the air fall to the ground, for example as rain, snow, sleet, or hail; be deposited as condensed droplets.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "to precipitate a journey, or a conflict"
- "it precipitated their success"
- "if they be stout and daring, it may precipitate their designs, and prove dangerous"
- "Back to his sight precipitates her steps."
- "Freshly arrived in Paris in 1871 at the age of 17, Rimbaud proceded ^([sic]) to precipitate the collapse of Verlaine's marital menage, and with it his social position."
- "In gallopping heedlessly along, with her eyes turned upwards, she had unwarily approached too near the bank; it had given way with her, and she and her horse had been precipitated to the pebbled margin of the river."
Etymology
From Latin praecipitātus, perfect passive participle of praecipitō (“throw down, hurl down, throw headlong”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from praeceps (“head foremost, headlong”) (praecipit- in its oblique stem), from prae (“before”) + -ceps (“headed”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pɹɪˈsɪpɪteɪt/
- British English: /pɹɪˈsɪpɪteɪt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
precipitates (present, singular)
precipitating (participle, present)
precipitated (participle, past)
precipitated (past)
præcipitate (alternative)
more precipitate (comparative)
most precipitate (superlative)
precipitates (plural)