1610s, now obsolete, but formerly preferred by purists for the sense "high and steep" over the later formation precipitous. Related: Precipitiously.
Entries linking to precipitious
precipitous adj.
1640s, "rash, done with excessive or undue haste" (a sense now obsolete), also "rushing headlong, violently hurried," from obsolete French precipiteux (16c.), from Vulgar Latin *praecipitosus, from praecipitare "to throw or dive headlong; be hasty" (see precipitation). Meaning "high and steep" is from 1806. Related: Precipitously; precipitousness.