precipitate
/pɹɪˈsɪpɪteɪt/ verb, adjective, noun
Forms precipitates precipitating precipitated præcipitate
- verb (transitive) To make something happen suddenly and quickly. “to precipitate a journey, or a conflict”
- verb (transitive) To throw an object or person from a great height.
- verb (transitive) To send violently into a certain state or condition. “we were precipitated into a conflict”
- verb (intransitive) (chemistry) To come out of a liquid solution into solid form. “Adding the acid will cause the salt to precipitate.”
- verb (transitive) (chemistry) To separate a substance out of a liquid solution into solid form.
- verb (intransitive, meteorology) To have water in the air fall to the ground, for example as rain, snow, sleet, or hail; be deposited as condensed droplets. “It will precipitate tomorrow, but we don't know whether as rain or snow.”
- verb (transitive) To cause (water in the air) to condense or fall to the ground.
- verb (intransitive) To fall headlong.
- adjective headlong; falling steeply or vertically.
- adjective Very steep; precipitous.
- adjective With a hasty impulse; hurried; headstrong.
- adjective Moving with excessive speed or haste; overly hasty. “The king was too precipitate in declaring war.”
- adjective Performed very rapidly or abruptly.
- noun A product resulting from a process, event, or course of action.
- noun (chemistry) A solid that exits the liquid phase of a solution.
Synonyms
advance accelerate hasten speed up throw fling cast bung chuck chunk cook dash dump feck jerk heave hield hoy huck hurl come down fall hasty overhasty precipitant precipitous
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”).
From Latin praecipitātus (see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more).
From New Latin praecipitātum. Equivalent to Latin praecipitō + -ate (noun-forming suffix).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Overhasty; rash; as, the king was too precipitate in declaring war. Clarendon.
- adjective Lacking due deliberation or care; hurried; said or done before the time; as, a precipitate measure. "The rapidity of our too precipitate course." Landor.
- noun An insoluble substance separated from a solution in a concrete state by the action of some reagent added to the solution, or of some force, such as heat or cold. The precipitate may fall to the bottom (whence the name), may be diffused through the solution, or may float at or near the surface. Red precipitate (Old. Chem), mercuric oxide (HgO) a heavy red crystalline powder obtained by heating mercuric nitrate, or by heating mercury in the air. Prepared in the latter manner, it was the precipitate per se of the alchemists.
- verb To throw headlong; to cast down from a precipice or height.
Etymology [L. praecipitatus, p. p. of praecipitare to precipitate, fr. praeceps headlong. See Precipice.]
Etymology [NL. praecipitatum: cf. F. précipité.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “precipitate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details