risque

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁisk/^[1]

Forms

risque m (plural risques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Italian risco (modern Italian rischio),^[2][3][4][1] which corresponds to Medieval Latin resicum, risicus, recorded at Marseille, Bologna and elsewhere from the 12th and 13th centuries.^[2][3] The further origin is disputed.^[3][5] The TLFi, Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF derive it from Vulgar Latin *resecum (“that which cuts”), from Latin resecō (“to cut off”), hence “sheer rock”, then “reef”, and finally the risk run by goods carried by sea;^[2][4][6][7] Spanish risco (“crag”) keeps the sense of rock.^[2][3] Guiraud rejected this “nautical romance” and proposed a Romance Vulgar Latin *rixicō, from Latin rixor (“to quarrel”);^[3][5] others pointed to Ancient Greek ῥιζικόν (rhizikón, “chance, fate”), which the TLFi thinks cannot explain the vowel of the Medieval Latin forms.^[8][2][9]

Related are Spanish riesgo, Catalan reec and Old Occitan rezegue (“risk to goods at sea”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded from 1557 (1578 in Henri Estienne, who lists it among new Italianisms), at first as a feminine noun meaning a danger or likely harm.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The masculine gender took over in the 17th century (Pascal 1657, Molière 1663), though à toute risque lasted until the end of the century.^[3][5][4] Phrases followed: courir risque (1596), au risque de (1694), à tout risque (about 1770), aux risques et périls de (1769) and, in the 20th century, prendre des risques.^[3][6]

In law and insurance it is the possibility of a future loss and the event insured against (Furetière, 1690; insurance, 1842).^[2][6] The verb risquer is from the 16th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1557 – First record, as a feminine noun.^[3][5]
• 1578 – Henri Estienne.^[2][4]
• 1657 – Masculine gender (Pascal).^[5][6]
• 1690 – Legal sense (Furetière).^[2][6]
• 1694 – Au risque de.^[2][3]
• 1842 – Insurance sense.^[6]
• 1870 – Risque-tout “daredevil”.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A risk, a possible danger or harm: courir un risque.^[8][10]
2. (insurance, law) The possibility of a loss, or the loss insured against.^[8][6]
3. Au risque de: at the risk of.^[8]

Word family

• risquer
• risque-tout

Related words

• English risk

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 292a
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)