Origin: Latin prefix pre-
Precipitously has 4 different meanings across 1 category:
very suddenly and to a great degree
"conditions that precipitously increase the birthrate"
"prices rose sharply"
In a precipitous manner.
Abruptly; quickly.
The word comes from the Latin praecipitium, meaning a steep cliff or precipice, combined with the suffix -ly. It originally described something that drops off like a sheer cliff before evolving to mean very steep or sudden.