peril

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English peril,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman peril and peril (“danger, risk”),^[4][5][6] from Latin perīculum (“test, trial, experiment; risk, danger”),^[4][5][7][8] also contracted perīclum.^[4][9] The Latin noun is formed with the suffix -culum on the base of a verb recorded only in the compound experior (“to try, make trial of”),^{[4][8][3][10]} and is related to perītus (“experienced”).^[11][12] Etymonline derives it from Proto-Indo-European *peri-tlo-, a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to try, risk”),^[5] and Klein compares Ancient Greek πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, attempt”) and ἔμπειρος (émpeiros, “experienced”), and, among the Germanic words, Old English fǣr (“danger, fear”).^[11] The Old French word is recorded from about 980;^[4][5] the Anglo-Norman one, from the early 12th century, already meant danger, risk and the risk of loss.^[13] The same Latin word gave Old Occitan perilh, Catalan perill, Spanish peligro and Italian pericolo.^[4] The verb, first recorded in 1556, is formed from the noun.^[4][6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Exposure to the risk of harm, loss or destruction; jeopardy, danger: about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle,^[4] which Barnhart dates before 1200;^[6] Etymonline gives about 1200.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that the word etymologically means a "trying out", an experiment, and Word Origins that its history reflects the danger of trying something new.^[7][14] The sense "danger" was already present in Latin and Old French.^[4][5] From about 1300 a peril could also be a particular danger or something dangerous, and the plural perils the risks of an undertaking.^[4] Phrases with of named the threatened outcome (from about 1330) or what was exposed to it, especially one's life (Wycliffite Bible, before 1382).^[4] Oaths such as "upon my peril" and "by the peril of my soul" appear in Chaucer in the 1390s and are now obsolete,^[4] while at one's peril goes back to Middle English.^[15] In Scots law (about 1455 to 1681) peril was the responsibility for loss of goods bought or borrowed, and in the 15th century "days of peril" were unlucky days.^[4] Marine insurance used perils from 1808 for the risks covered by a policy; from 1892 the word was used, often disparagingly, of a threat seen as coming from a particular group, race or country, as in yellow peril.^[4] Weekley notes that it replaced fǣr, which had the same meaning (compare German Gefahr).^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – danger, jeopardy, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[4][6]
• c. 1300 – a danger, a dangerous thing; plural, risks.^[4]
• c. 1325 – a dangerous matter (now archaic).^[4]
• c. 1330 – peril of an evil outcome.^[4]
• before 1382 – peril of one's life, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[4]
• c. 1395 – upon my peril, in Chaucer (obsolete by 1627).^[4]
• c. 1455 – in Scots law, responsibility for loss of goods (obsolete by 1681).^[4]
• 1556 – verb, to expose to danger.^[4][6][9]
• 1808 – a risk insured against in marine insurance.^[4]
• 1892 – a threat attributed to a particular group or country.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Exposure to the risk of being harmed, lost or destroyed; serious danger or jeopardy: The crew were in peril for three days.^[9][16][4]
2. Something that causes danger; a risk or hazard, often in the plural: the perils of climbing alone.^[9][16][4]
3. (insurance) A risk covered by an insurance policy, especially a marine one.^[9][4]
4. at one's peril: at one's own risk, used as a warning: Ignore the forecast at your peril.^[16][4]

Verb

1. To expose to danger; to imperil or risk: He periled his savings on the venture.^[9][4]

Word family

• perilless
• multiperil
• imperil
• yellow peril
• peril point

Related words

• perilous
• parlous
• experience
• experiment
• expert
• empiric
• pirate
• repertory
• fear

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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 Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins