precipice: [16] The etymological notion underlying precipice is of falling ‘headlong’. It comes via French précipice from Latin praecipitium ‘headlong fall, steep place’. This was derived from praecipitāre ‘throw headlong’ (source of English precipitate [16] and precipitous [17]), a verb based on the adjective praeceps ‘headlong, steep’. This in turn was a compound formed from the prefix prae- ‘in front’ and caput ‘head’ (source of English capital, captain, etc). => capital, captain, chief[precipice etymology, precipice origin, 英语词源]