Etymologically
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danger

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɑ̃.ʒe/[1]

Forms

danger m (plural dangers)[1] Old French dangier and the older dongier.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French dangier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *dominiārium (“power, dominion”), also *domnārium, from Latin dominus (“lord, master”).[5][2][3][6][7][1] In northern Gaul the word was used for dominium (“ownership”), whence “domination, power, right”.[5][2] The ⟨a⟩ of the Old French word, beside dongier, is probably due to the influence of dam “harm”, Latin damnum.[5][2][3][1] Littré rejected the derivation from the Latin word for harm alone, which explains neither the sense nor the ⟨o⟩ of the older form.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Eneas (1160) has estre en dangier d'aucun “to be in someone's power, at his mercy”.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it was power, dominion (Desor tous autres rois auriez le dangier), and also refusal, difficulty or reluctance: Chrétien de Troyes (1170) has sans dangier “without stint”.[8][5][3] The AND records the same range in Anglo-Norman, from authority to hindrance and risk.[9]

The modern sense “peril” (1340) probably came from estre en dangier de, which passed from “in the power of” to “fearing the action of”; it drove out the other senses in the 16th century, leaving traces in the dialects.[5][2][3] The familiar (il n'y a) pas de danger “no fear of that” is quoted from Zola (1883).[2][10] English dangerous comes from the French adjective.[3]

Timeline

  • 1160 – Estre en dangier d'aucun, Eneas.[5]
  • 1170 – Sans dangier, Chrétien de Troyes.[5]
  • Early 13th century – Dangereux.[2]
  • 1340 – Estre en dangier “to be in peril”.[5]
  • 16th century – The old senses die out.[3][2]
  • 1883 – Pas de danger, Zola.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. danger, peril: être en danger, hors de danger, danger de mort.[11][1]
  2. A threat, risk: courir un danger, les dangers de la route.[11][1]
  3. Danger public: a public menace (of a person).[1]
  4. (familiar) Pas de danger !: no fear of that!, not likely![2][10]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 128a
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert