precipitation

C2+ Topic:Chemistry

US /prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃən/ UK /prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
rain, snow, or other water falling from the sky; hasty action

Heavy precipitation flooded the low-lying fields.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · rain, snow, or other water... rainfall rain downpour haste hastiness suddenness

Opposites

deliberation delay

Word family

Related forms precipitate precipitous precipice

Etymology

From Latin praecipitatio ('a falling headlong'), from praecipitare ('to throw headlong'), from praeceps ('headlong'), from prae- ('before') + caput ('head').

praecipitatio Latin praeceps Latin caput Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Chemistry Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# precipitation

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃən/
**IPA (UK):** /prɪˌsɪpɪˈteɪʃən/

## Meanings
1. rain, snow, or other water falling from the sky; hasty action

## Examples
- Heavy precipitation flooded the low-lying fields.

## Synonyms
- rainfall
- rain
- downpour
- haste
- hastiness
- suddenness

## Antonyms
- deliberation
- delay

## Related Forms
- precipitate
- precipitous
- precipice

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: praecipitatio
- Root: praeceps
- Root: caput

## Etymology
From Latin praecipitatio ('a falling headlong'), from praecipitare ('to throw headlong'), from praeceps ('headlong'), from prae- ('before') + caput ('head').

## AI Etymology
Precipitation comes from Latin praecipitatio ('a falling headlong'), from praecipitare ('to throw headlong'), from praeceps ('headlong'), from prae- ('before') + caput ('head'). The historical chain includes Latin praecipitatio, Latin praeceps, and Latin caput. The quoted older senses, "a falling headlong", "to throw headlong", "headlong", "before", and "head", supply the semantic anchors for precipitation. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word precipitation carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "rain, snow, or other water falling from the sky; hasty action". Related English forms include precipitate, precipitous, and precipice. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Chemistry
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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