adventurous

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English aventurous, also auntrous and adventurous,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman aventurous, also aventurus, and Old French aventuros, aventureus,^[5][6][7][8] now aventureux,^[5][7][9] formed from aventure with the suffix -eus, -ous.^[5][9][8] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from 1194–99 with the senses "fated", "uncertain", "dangerous" and "seeking adventure".^[6] The d of the modern spelling was restored after the Latin prefix ad-, as in adventure;^[3][5] the OED also compares aventuroso, aventuroso and avventuroso.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Seeking adventure; bold, daring: about 1330, in the romance Sir Degare.^[5] Etymonline gives "hazardous" as the first sense, from the mid-14th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word covered both sides of chance: "full of risk, perilous" (before 1375)^[5][7] and "happening by chance, accidental", the main sense in the Middle English Dictionary, used by Chaucer in his Boece and obsolete by the end of the 16th century.^[2][5][7][8] The idea of rashness, a person too ready to take risks, is recorded from the 15th century,^[5][7] and Johnson (1755) defined the word first as inclined to adventures, and so bold and daring.^[10] From 1617 an adventurous life or journey was one full of incident.^[5] The modern sense of a person, or a work, willing to try something new and unconventional dates from the 19th century: of a person from 1824 and of a product or activity from 1841.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – seeking adventure; bold, daring.^[5]
• before 1375 – full of risk; hazardous.^[5][7]
• c. 1390 – happening by chance, accidental (obsolete by 1595).^[5][2]
• c. 1475 – rash, prone to take risks.^[5]
• 1617 – full of incident.^[5]
• 1824 – of a person, willing to try new or unconventional things.^[5]
• 1841 – of a product or activity, innovative, experimental.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Willing to take risks and seek new and exciting experiences; bold, daring: an adventurous traveller.^[3][11][5]
2. Involving danger or risk; hazardous.^[11][5]
3. Full of incident or adventure: an adventurous voyage.^[5]
4. Willing to try new ideas or methods; innovative or unconventional: an adventurous menu.^[5]
5. (obsolete, 1390–1595) Happening by chance; accidental.^[5][2][8]

Word family

• adventurously
• adventurousness
• nonadventurous

Related words

• adventure
• adventurer
• adventuresome
• adventurism
• venturesome
• venture

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins