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HSS Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

Precipitant

Hi.

Could someone please tell me what the author would mean by "precipitant" in , "Child rearing is the number one precipitant of insomnia"? I gather it means the most powerful "agent" that causes insomnia. Could you use the word for any "agent" that causes a disorder, disease etc.?

Hiro/ Sendai, Japan
  

Top answer

A precipitant is the agent which suddenly and dramatically causes something. If you will recall your chemistry class, we prepared a mix of ingredients with little apparent change, and then added the precipitant, a substance which suddenly allowed the chemicals present to interact and produce the precipitate.

— Mister Micawber

  • A precipitant is the agent which suddenly and dramatically causes something.
  • If you will recall your chemistry class, we prepared a mix of ingredients with little apparent change, and then added the precipitant, a substance which suddenly allowed the chemicals present to interact and produce the precipitate.
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5 Answers
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A precipitant is the agent which suddenly and dramatically causes something. If you will recall your chemistry class, we prepared a mix of ingredients with little apparent change, and then added the precipitant, a substance which suddenly allowed the chemicals present to interact and produce the precipitate.
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Hi, MM.

Yes, that's exactly the first meaning that came into my mind (I'm a chemist, by the way), but "precipitant of insomnia"?

Hiro/ Sendai, Japan
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I see how it is used metaphorically, but could it be used for any disorder? I guess it could be used for a disorder that could accumulate, like for fatigue --- This work is a precipitant of fatigue, for instance. Am I about right?

Hiro/ Sendai, Japan
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Presumably, yes. Or in any context where there is a similar effect.
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