'Precipice' is Latin for 'headfirst' — from 'prae-' (before) + 'caput' (head). Standing head-over-the-edge.
A very steep rock face or cliff; a dangerous situation.
From French 'précipice,' from Latin 'praecipitium' (a steep place, a headlong fall), from 'praeceps' (headlong, steep, rushing head-first), genitive 'praecipitis,' from 'prae-' (before, in front) + 'caput' (head), from PIE *kaput- (head). To stand on a precipice is literally to be at a place where one falls head-first — the Latin construction places the head (caput) before (prae) the body, capturing the image of a person toppling forward over a cliff's edge. The PIE root *kaput- generated a vast family through Latin 'caput': 'captain' (head of a company), 'capital' (the head city, or wealth at the 'head' of an