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Origin and history of danger

danger(n.)

mid-13c., daunger, "arrogance, insolence;" c. 1300, "power of a lord or master, jurisdiction," from Anglo-French daunger, Old French dangier "power, power to harm, mastery, authority, control" (12c., Modern French danger), alteration (due to association with damnum) of dongier, from Vulgar Latin *dominarium "power of a lord," from Latin dominus "lord, master," from domus "house" (from PIE root *dem- "house, household").

Modern sense of "risk, peril, exposure to injury, loss, pain, etc." (from being in the control of someone or something else) evolved first in French and was in English by late 14c. For this, Old English had pleoh; in early Middle English this sense is found in peril. For sound changes, compare dungeon, which is from the same source.

also from mid-13c.

Entries linking to danger

dungeon(n.)

c. 1300, "great tower of a castle," from Old French donjon "great tower of a castle" (12c.), from Gallo-Roman *dominionem, from Late Latin dominium, from Latin dominus "master" (of the castle), from domus "house" (from PIE root *dem- "house, household"), so called probably for its commanding position or strength. Sense of "castle keep" led to that of "strong (underground) cell" in English early 14c. The original sense went with the variant donjon.

peril(n.)

"danger, risk, hazard, jeopardy, exposure of person or property to injury, loss, or destruction," c. 1200, from Old French peril "danger, risk" (10c.), from Latin periculum "an attempt, trial, experiment; risk, danger," with instrumentive suffix -culum and first element from PIE *peri-tlo-, suffixed form of root *per- (3) "to try, risk."

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More to explore

dangerous
c. 1200, daungerous, "difficult to deal with, arrogant, severe" (the opposite of affable), from Anglo-French dangerous, Old French dangeros (12c., Modern French dangereux), from danger "power, power to harm, mastery, authority, control" (see danger). In Chaucer, it can mean "hard
safety
early 14c., savete, "freedom or immunity from harm or danger; an unharmed or uninjured state or condition," from Old French sauvete, salvete "safety, safeguard; salvation; security, surety," earlier salvetet (11c., Modern French sauveté), from Medieval Latin salvitatem (nominativ
risk
1660s, risque, "hazard, danger, peril, exposure to mischance or harm," from French risque (16c.), from Italian risco, riscio (modern rischio), from riscare "run into danger," a word of uncertain origin. The Englished spelling is recorded by 1728. Spanish riesgo and German Risiko
fear
Middle English fere, from Old English fær "calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack," from Proto-Germanic *feraz "danger..." (source also of Old Saxon far "ambush," Old Norse far "harm, distress, deception," Dutch gevaar, German Gefahr "danger"...The sense of "state of being afraid, uneasiness caused by possible danger" developed by late 12c....
perilous
c. 1300, "full of danger; risky; involving exposure to death, destruction or injury," also "spiritually dangerous," from...perillos "perilous, dangerous" (Modern French périlleux), from Latin periculosus "dangerous, hazardous," from periculum "a danger...
plight
"danger, risk" (see plight (n.2)), from Proto-Germanic *plehti-, which ultimately is perhaps from PIE root *dlegh- "to engage...The notion is "to put (something -- honor, troth) in danger or risk of forfeiture;" it is rarely used of physical things....
country
mid-13c., "(one's) native land;" c. 1300, "any geographic area," sometimes with implications of political organization, from Old French contree, cuntrede "region, district, country," from Vulgar Latin *(terra) contrata "(land) lying opposite," or "(land) spread before one," in Me
threat
Old English þreat "crowd, troop," also "oppression, coercion, menace," related to þreotan "to trouble, weary," from Proto-Germanic *thrautam (source also of Dutch verdrieten, German verdrießen "to vex"), from PIE *treud- "to push, press squeeze" (source also of Latin trudere "to
hatter
"maker or seller of hats," late 14c., from hat + -er (1). Mad as a hatter, originally a Scottish phrase, is from 1829 as "demented, violently insane," 1837 as "enraged, violently angry;" an earlier expression was to do something like a hatter (1826) "in a frenzy or energetically"

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