precipitant

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an agent that causes a precipitate to form
  2. adjective done with very great haste and without due deliberation; - Shakespeare; - Arthur Geddes

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Middle French précipitant, Old French precipitant (“acting hastily, hasty, rash; acting, happening, or moving rapidly; pressing”) (modern French précipitant), and from their etymon Late Latin praecipitans (“hasty, rash”), an adjective use of Latin praecipitāns, the present participle of praecipitō (“to cast down; to throw headlong”), from praeceps (“head first, headlong; (figurative) hasty, rash”) (from prae (“before; in front”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before; in front”)) + -ceps (suffix meaning ‘having a head with specified characteristics’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“a head”))). The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

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