precarious

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin precārius (“obtained by entreaty; held by another's favour; uncertain”) with the suffix -ous,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} formed from prex (“prayer, entreaty”) and the suffix -ārius.^[2][4][7] The noun is close to precor (“to ask, entreat, pray”), the source of pray and prayer,^[8][9] and Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *prek- (“to ask, entreat”).^[3] The OED and the Shorter Oxford compare French précaire.^[2][5] Klein credits Sir Thomas Browne with introducing the word,^[10] but the OED has an earlier record.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a right or tenancy, held only by the favour and at the pleasure of another person: 1626, in a sermon by T. Aylesbury.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1638,^[11] Etymonline to the 1640s, as a legal term,^[3] and Barnhart and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate to 1646.^[4][12]

Semantic evolution

Ayto explains that the Latin sense "obtained by asking" shifted in legal use to "held by another's favour"; since a favour could be withdrawn, such a possession was uncertain, and the adjective came to mean "depending on chance" and, in the 18th century, "risky".^[8] The OED records "insecurely founded", of an argument, from 1642, "dependent on chance; uncertain, hazardous" from 1687, and "physically unsafe, at risk of falling" from 1727.^[2] The extended sense was criticised: Johnson (1755) held that it meant only "uncertain because dependent on others", and complained that authors spoke of the precariousness of the weather or of a die.^[13][3] The sense "suppliant, begging", from 1655 to 1753, did not survive.^[2]

Timeline

• 1626 – of a right or tenancy, held at the pleasure of another.^[2]
• 1642 – of an argument or opinion, insecurely founded, doubtful.^[2]
• 1655 – suppliant, begging (obsolete after 1753).^[2]
• 1687 – dependent on chance; uncertain, hazardous.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1680s.^[3]
• 1727 – physically unsafe, liable to fall or collapse.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Dependent on chance or on circumstances beyond one's control; uncertain or insecure: a precarious living from seasonal work.^[11][14][2]
2. Likely to fall or collapse; physically unsafe: a precarious ledge.^[2][14]
3. Resting on uncertain premises; dubious: precarious conclusions.^[12][2]
4. Depending on the will or favour of another person.^[12][2][14]

Word family

• precariously
• precariousness
• unprecarious

Related words

• pray
• prayer
• imprecation
• deprecate
• precarity

Usage notes

Johnson (1755) objected that the word was used for "uncertain" in every sense, when it properly meant only "uncertain because dependent on others".^[13][3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins