▪ I. precipitate, n.
(prɪˈsɪpɪtət)
[ad. mod.L. præcipitātum a precipitate, n. use of neut. pa. pple. of L. præcipitāre: see precipitate v.]
That which is precipitated; the product of precipitation. a. Chem. A body precipitated from solution; any substance which, by the action of a chemical reagent, or of heat, etc. is separated from the liquid in which it was previously dissolved, and deposited in the solid state (usually in a powdery, flocculent, or cryptocrystalline form).
(Distinguished from sediment, a substance previously merely held in suspension, which subsides when left at rest.)
| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 36 In the end, by a reverbatory furnesse hee turned al this great matter into a precipitate. 1666 Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. 353 A no lesse evident Example..we have in the precipitate of Gold and Mercury made by heat alone. 1790 Keir in Phil. Trans. LXXX. 376 The precipitate was at first black, then it assumed the appearance of silver. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. ii. 61 Some precipitates will be days and even weeks before they will settle. 1876 tr. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. (ed. 6) 89 All kinds of bacteria are indiscriminately mixed in the precipitate. |
b. In Old Chem. and Pharm., applied spec. to certain preparations of mercury obtained by precipitation; in later use, only with defining words:
precipitate per se [= med.L. mercurius præcipitatus per se], or red precipitate [= mercurius præcipitatus ruber], mercuric oxide or red oxide of mercury, HgO; sweet precipitate, mercurous chloride or calomel, Hg2Cl2; white precipitate, mercurammonium chloride, HgH6N2Cl2 (fusible white p.), or dimercurammonium chloride, Hg2H4N2Cl2 (infusible white p.) [= mercurius præcipitatus albus].
| 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 68 The Argent Viue that is combust (whych the Alchymistes call precipitate). 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 380/1 It will wexe a redde poudre which is called Aurum vitæ, and the aureate or goulden præcipitate. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 399 Rats-bane, Quick-silver, Sublimate, and Precipitate, and divers other things. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Precipitate, a Dissolution of Mercury made by a Lamp Fire for two Months together, by which it is reduced to red and shining Powder. White precipitate is Mercury reviv'd, and Cinnaber dissolv'd in Aqua fortis of Nitre and Alum. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Precipitate... The Chymists and Writers of Pharmacy commonly give this Name by way of Eminence to Mercury dissolved in Acid Menstruums, and then afterwards precipitated down to the bottom in fine Powders. 1784 Kirwan in Phil. Trans. LXXIV. 158 It may further be urged that precipitate per se yields only dephlogisticated air. 1849 D. Campbell Inorg. Chem. 233 Oxide of mercury..reduced to a fine powder, it is changed to a yellow. It is known in pharmacy as red precipitate. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 516 In ointments, ammoniated mercury (white precipitate) is chiefly employed. |
c. Physics and Meteorol. Moisture condensed from the state of vapour by cooling, and deposited in drops, as rain, dew, etc.
| 1832 Chalmers in Hanna Mem. (1851) III. xvii. 321 The heat, and the vapour, and the atmospherical precipitates. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 65 There is yet another form of atmospheric precipitate that needs a passing notice. |
d. fig.
| 1851 Carlyle Sterling i. iii. (1872) 24 The Sterling house⁓hold shifted twice or thrice..before the vapours of Wellesley promotions and suchlike slowly sank as useless precipitate. 1890 Spectator 22 Nov., The proportion of his precipitate of rascaldom which can be cured..in that way, is a very small one. 1905 G. A. Smith in Expositor Oct. 309 Convulsions within Jerusalem, the precipitates from which lie heavy on the later memory of the Jewish nation. |
e. attrib. (in sense b).
| 1753 Bartlet Farriery xxv. 230 Let the dressings be changed for the precipitate medicine. 1837 Syd. Smith Let. to Archd. Singleton, Finger and thumb, precipitate powder, or anything else you please. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. 391, I entered on the use of black wash, with weak precipitate ointment. |
▪ II. precipitate, a.
(prɪˈsɪpɪtət)
Also 7 præ-.
[ad. L. præcipitātus, pa. pple. of præcipitāre: see precipitate v.]
1. Hurled headlong; falling or descending steeply, or directly downwards; having the character of such descent; headlong.
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. §7. 44 The foure Riuers (had they not fallen so precipitate) could not haue had sufficient force to haue thrust themselues vnder the great Ocean. 1703 Rowe Ulyss. iii. i, Now like a Whirlwind, on the Shepherd's Fold He [an Eagle] darts precipitate. 1850 Blackie æschylus II. 247 And Dadaces, the chiliarch, spear-struck fell Precipitate from his ship. |
† b. Of a place, etc., without reference to movement: Having a steep or sheer descent; very steep, precipitous. Obs.
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 223 Some part of it of a plaine descent, some precipitate, some clothed with trees of seuerall kinds. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §225 (1810) 241 The way right down to the quay, they call it Precipitate. |
2. Rushing or driven along headlong; moving or moved with excessive haste or speed, or having the character of such movement; violently hurried.
| 1654 tr. Martini's Conq. China 70 That vast and precipitate River which the Chineses call Hoang. 1703 Pope Thebais 191 Such was the discord of the royal pair, Whom fury drove precipitate to war. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. (1869) II. xlvi. 729 The general escaped by a precipitate flight. 1849 Grote Greece ii. xxxix. V. 92 This precipitate retreat produced consequences highly disastrous. |
3. Performed, taking place, acting, or passing with very great rapidity; greatly hastened or hurried; exceedingly sudden or abrupt.
| 1658 Rowland Topsell's Four-f. Beasts Ep. Ded., That Art is long, Life short, Experience difficult, occasion precipitate, Judgement uncertain. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 27 Their service consisted in precipitate, and very irreverent chattering of certain Prayers and Hymns. 1845 Poe Purloined Let. Wks. 1865 I. 280 His downfall, too, will not be more precipitate than awkward. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 737 Besides the long and difficult labour, the quick, or, in technical language the precipitate labour. |
4. a. Of persons, or their dispositions, etc.: Actuated by violent or sudden impulse, without deliberation; acting with excessive or unwise haste; over-hasty, rash, inconsiderate, headstrong.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 237 They likewise fall to be so mad and præcipitate in lust, raging both with gestures and voice. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvii. 153 Men that are hasty, and præcipitate in concluding..what to do. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 112 ¶5 If I could perswade these precipitate young Gentlemen to compose this Restlessness of Mind. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §123, I was determined not to be precipitate in purchasing. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 346 It was feared by some that she might be precipitate in her choice. |
b. Of acts, etc.: Done in sudden haste or without deliberation; hurried, rash, unconsidered.
| a 1618 Raleigh Mahomet (1637) 66 His præcipitate Councels in defacing Castles and strong palaces. 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. xii. 68 Our senses are not in fault, but our precipitate judgments. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1775 (1816) II. 401 Destroyed in a precipitate burning of his papers a few days before his death. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 481 The check opposed to precipitate and indiscreet zeal was not detrimental to the ultimate extension of Christianity. |
† 5. Thrown down (fig.), subjected. Obs. rare—1.
| 1627 Drayton Agincourt, etc. 216, I finde this age of oure markt with this fate, That honest men are still precipitate Vnder base villaines. |
▪ III. precipitate, v.
(prɪˈsɪpɪteɪt)
[f. L. præcipitāre to throw or drive headlong, to fall, be over-hasty, f. præceps, -cipitem adj. headforemost, headlong, steep, rapid, violent, etc., f. præ before + caput head: see -ate3.]
I. 1. a. trans. To throw down headlong; to hurl or fling down. (Often refl.)
| 1575 R. B. Appius & Virg. D j b, From lofty top of Turret hie, persupetat [sic] me downe. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. ii. i. (1651) 692 Salmoneus, that would in derision imitate Jupiters Thunder, he was precipitated for his pains. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 42 Water gushed out miraculously from the place into which he was precipitated. 1774 Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772, 224 The garrison had no alternative but to perish by the edge of the sword, or to precipitate themselves into the ocean. 1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 36 On the brink of a precipice over which she was to be ere long precipitated. |
b. fig. To ‘hurl’, ‘fling’, throw violently (into some (depressed) condition, or upon an object of attack).
| 1528 Gardiner in Pocock Rec. Ref. I. l. 119 He shall precipitate himself into his enemies dedition. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. iii. §8 How often they are precipitated from the height of prosperity, into the depth of adversity. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxvi. II. 563 The invasion of the Huns precipitated on the provinces of the West the Gothic nation. 1880 G. Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 78 A youth who could be precipitated into the writhings of dissolution, and raised out of it by a smile. |
† c. fig. To cast down; to overthrow, ruin, destroy; to upset, disorder, derange. Obs.
| 1528 in Burnet Hist. Ref. (1679) I. Records ii. xxii. 58 Not to suffer the Pope's Holiness, if he would thus wilfully, without reason or discretion to precipitate himself and the said See. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ps. liv. 10 Precipitate ô Lord, and divide their tongues. |
† 2. a. intr. (for refl. or pass.) To fall headlong; to fall, gravitate (quot. 1740). Obs.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 50 (So many fathome downe precipitating) Thou'dst shiuer'd like an Egge. 1740 Stack in Phil. Trans. XLI. 421 The Complication of these Two Forces will compel the Mobile to precipitate to the Centre..of the Parallel it happens to be in. 1785 Jefferson Corr. Wks. 1859 I. 354 They precipitated from that height to the earth, and were crushed to atoms. |
† b. To descend steeply, as a waterfall or river.
| 1644 Evelyn Diary 2 Nov., Aquapendente, a town situated on a very ragged rock, down which precipitates an intire river. 1793 A. Murphy Tacitus (1805) VII. 8 The Rhine has its source on the steep and lofty summit of the Rhætian Alps, from which it precipitates. |
† c. fig. To ‘fall’ or ‘plunge’ into some condition or act; to fall or come suddenly to ruin or destruction. Obs. (In quot. 1593, to come down from a lofty position or dignity, to condescend extremely.)
| 1593 Ld. Essex in Bacon's Wks. (1862) VIII. 254 She [Q. Eliz.] should precipitate too much from being highly displeased with you, to give you near access. 1650 R. Gentilis Considerations 160 Those who have such a mixture of great vices, and great vertues, sometimes precipitate and fall almost as soon as they are born. 1682 J. Scarlett Exchanges 173 Exchanges are as variable as the Wind, and many times as if made, do precipitate without any known Cause or Reason. 1758 Herald No. 23 II. 116 While a nation is precipitating to its ruin. |
II. 3. a. trans. To cause to move, pass, act, or proceed very rapidly; to hasten, hurry, urge on.
| 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. (1568) 2 Our disordinate maner of lyfe maketh vs..to precipitate our youth, and to abbreuiate much our lyfe. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 614 The Goddess..Her self, involv'd in Clouds, precipitates her Flight. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. iv. Wks. 1874 I. 204 Men are impatient, and for precipitating things. 1858 Buckle Civiliz. (1871) II. viii. 554 Men will not bide their time, but will insist on precipitating the march of affairs. |
b. To bring on or cause to happen quickly, suddenly, or unexpectedly; to bring to pass hastily or abruptly; to hasten the occurrence of.
| 1625 Bacon Ess., Ambition (Arb.) 227 If they bee Stout, and Daring, it may precipitate their Designes, and proue dangerous. 1670 Cotton Espernon i. ii. 65 The Duke of Joyeuse having precipitated the Battel of Coutras,..he there lost the Battel, with his Life. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. vi. 198 They could not precipitate his departure. 1837 Disraeli Venetia i. vii, [He] often precipitated these paroxysms by denying his mother..duty and affection. 1874 Green Short Hist. vi. §3. 284 Its ruin was precipitated by religious persecution. |
4. a. intr. To rush headlong; to make great haste, to hurry; to move, act, or proceed very quickly.
| 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, Wks. 1879 I. 774/2 Neither..did their forces gather or increase, which might hasten him to precipitate and assail them. 1647 Sprigge Anglia Rediv. i. v. (1854) 39 It was brought to the King, that our army was flying to Northampton, which did occasion them the more to precipitate. 1758 Jortin Erasm. I. 164, I precipitate rather than compose, and it is far more irksome to me to review than to write. |
† b. To proceed with undue or unwise haste; to act hastily or rashly; to be precipitate in action.
| 1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 121 They had vsed all reasons and dexteritie possible to stay the Pope that he might not precipitate. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals iii. i. 244 We are now deliberating about the Election of Gods Vice-gerent.., and shall we precipitate in this manner? |
III. 5. a. Chem. trans. To deposit, or cause to be deposited, in a solid form from solution in a liquid, by chemical action: see precipitate n. (Sometimes with the solution as object: To produce precipitation in.) Also, to cause (dust or other particulate matter in a gas) to be deposited on a surface. Formerly sometimes in wider sense: To deposit from suspension or admixture in a liquid, as sediment, etc.
| 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies xxxiv. §4. 290 This steame therefore, flying still to the serous bloud which passeth by, must of necessity precipitate (as I may say) the serous partes of that bloud. 1676–7 Grew Solution Salts in Water i. §14 They are both copiously and forthwith precipitated to the bottome of the Glass. 1790 Keir in Phil. Trans. LXXX. 375 note, Copper and zinc readily precipitate silver from these solutions. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 96 This acid liquor precipitates lime water. 1816 Faraday Exp. Res. i. 2 The filtered solution was precipitated by carbonate of potash. 1857 G. Bird's Urin. Deposits (ed. 5) 246 This acid readily precipitates lime from all its combinations with acids. 1911 Jrnl. Industr. & Engin. Chem. Aug. 543/2 Cotton-covered wire when used as a discharge electrode..proved far more effective in precipitating the sulphuric acid mists. 1912 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. CLXXIV. 263 Plants..built for precipitating the fumes from copper smelters and the dust from cement plants. 1938 Trans. Inst. Chem. Engineers XVI. 40/1 The gas is..passed through an electrofitter of the dry type where the greater part of the dust is precipitated. 1975 S. Masuda in A. R. Blythe Static Electrification 1975 iii. 154 Particles charged by collision with unipolar ions emitted from the discharge electrode are driven by the coulombic force on to the collecting electrode, where they are precipitated. |
b. Physics and Meteorol. To condense (moisture) into drops from a state of vapour, and so deposit or cause to fall, as dew, rain, etc.
| 1863 Tyndall Heat ii. §28 (1870) 31 A very few strokes suffice to precipitate the vapour. 1869 ― in Fortn. Rev. 1 Feb. 235 Turning in the beam we have a second cloud, more delicate than the first, precipitated. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 44 The mass of ice cools the surrounding air, and thus precipitates its moisture. |
c. transf. and fig. in various applications; spec. in Spiritualism = materialize 2.
| 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan II. 189 The mercury of his blood was precipitated. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Nat. Wks. (Bohn) I. 235 The world is mind precipitated. 1891 Pall Mall G. 1 Oct. 2/3 The assertion of a band of Mejnour and Zanoni brothers who possess the secret of dissolving their own senile bodies and precipitating them again in the prime of physical condition. |
6. a. intr. (for refl.) To be deposited from solution (or from suspension); to settle as a precipitate.
| a 1626 Bacon Phys. Rem. Wks. 1879 I. 245/1 By what strong water every metal will precipitate. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 34 Which in a short time will precipitate and all sink down to the bottom of the glass. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chem. I. 379 It always precipitates in the form of a white calx. 1854 J. Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc., Chem. 403 Carbonate of lime..precipitates. |
b. To fall or be deposited as condensed vapour.
| 1800 Vince Hydrostat. vii. (1806) 78 [The vapours] have no inclination to precipitate and fall down in drops. |