Etymologically
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dangereux

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɑ̃ʒ.ʁø/[1]
  • IPA: /dɑ̃.ʒə.ʁø/[1]

Forms

dangereux (feminine dangereuse, masculine plural dangereux, feminine plural dangereuses)[1] Old French dangereus.[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from French danger + -eux.[3][4][5][6][1] “Danger”, Old French “dangier”, comes from a late Latin “*domniarium” “power”, from Latin dominus (“lord, master”).[7][6] The Medieval Latin nickname “Dangerosa” borne by a woman in 1060 shows that the adjective already existed.[3][7]

It is the source of English dangerous.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its sense in the first records, in Reclus de Molliens (early 13th century), is unclear: perhaps “weak”, perhaps “acting rashly”; the Grand Robert and the GLLF give “difficult” in the late 12th century.[3][7][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It followed the history of danger, which first meant “power, domination” and then “refusal, difficulty”: in the Roman de la Rose dangereus means hard to please, standoffish, and Anglo-Norman dangerus “exacting, difficult” (about 1292).[6][2][8] As danger came to mean “peril” (1340), dangereux took the modern sense “presenting a danger” in the 13th century, used of people as well as things.[7][5][6] Montaigne writes C'est une dangereuse invention que celle des gehennes “torture is a dangerous invention”.[2]

Timeline

  • 1060 – Medieval Latin nickname Dangerosa.[3]
  • early 13th century – Dangereus, Reclus de Molliens.[3]
  • 13th century – “Hard to please”, Roman de la Rose.[2]
  • 13th century – “Presenting a danger”.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. dangerous, perilous: un virage dangereux, une maladie dangereuse, un sport dangereux.[9][1]
  2. Harmful, likely to do wrong (of a person): un individu dangereux.[5][9]
  3. (figurative) Risky, delicate: un terrain dangereux.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  3. ^ a b c d e 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
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert