Etymologically
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rischio

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Pronunciation

Forms

rischio m (plural rischi)[1] The archaic form is Old Italian risco, and Tuscan also has risico.[2][3][4] Popular Tuscan once had ristio.[5]

Etymology

The origin of this word, a common term of trade since the Middle Ages, has long been disputed.[6][3][4] The explanation that DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT now favour was set out by Henry and Renée Kahane: it is borrowed from Byzantine Greek ῥιζικόν (rhizikón, “fate, lot”), from Arabic رزق (rizq, “gift of providence; lot, fortune”).[6][7][8][2] In Egypt the Arabic word named a tax in kind that the local people paid for the upkeep of the occupying troops, and Greek papyri of the 8th century use a related form in the same sense.[6] In the 12th century Eustathius of Thessalonica speaks of mercenaries as men of the “rizikón”, soldiers paid by chance, and this shows how the word came to mean “fate, fortune”.[6][7] From the middle of the 12th century Medieval Latin resicum appears again and again in documents from Genoa and Venice for the risk run by goods shipped by sea, and in this sense the word spread through the languages of the Mediterranean.[7] B. Z. Kedar gave the Arabic origin further support in 1969, and he and Castellani explained the wavering between “e” and “i” in the old forms by the two Arabic pronunciations, western (Maghrebi) “rezq” and central “rizq”.[6][7]

For a long time the usual explanation was Vulgar Latin *resecum (“reef”), from Latin resecō (“to cut off”), a rock that cuts being a danger to ships.[7][1] Wartburg and Corominas favoured a Latin origin of this kind.[6] Cortelazzo argued for a Greek origin, from the Byzantine word for “fate” itself, which some derived from Ancient Greek ῥίζα (rhíza) (glossed “reef” by DELI and “root” by Nocentini) and others from a Greek word for “rescue, protection”.[6][7][9] DEI found the Greek derivation hazardous, and thought the “i” of rischiare might come from the prefix ri- and have passed from the verb to the noun.[10] Sabatini–Coletti, Zingarelli and Gabrielli call the origin uncertain.[4][3][11]

The same word is Occitan resegue, Catalan risc, Spanish riesgo and Portuguese risco.[7] French risque came from the Italian variant Old Italian risco and gave English risk, and German Risiko came from the variant risico.[7][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record in Italian is resicu in the Carta picena of 1193.[6][7] The modern sense, the possibility of harmful consequences from circumstances that cannot always be foreseen, is found in the 13th century in Guidotto da Bologna and Bono Giamboni.[6][8] A will of 1263 has the pair a rischio e aventura “at risk and venture”, which matches the Medieval Latin ad risicum marium et gentium “at the risk of the seas and of people” of a Venetian document written at Constantinople in 1158.[6]

Semantic evolution

Dante used the word before 1321 for a dangerous event, and Giovanni Villani before 1348 for a danger that is more or less close.[6] In the Paradiso the singing souls fall silent “as, to avoid fatigue or risk, the oars that were striking the water all stop at the sound of a whistle” (Siccome per cessar fatica, o rischio, / Gli remi pria nell'acqua ripercossi / Tutti si posano, al sonar d'un fischio).[5] Tommaseo noted that the word was close to pericolo in sense, but weaker.[5]

The verb rischiare is recorded from before 1348, the adjective rischioso from the first half of the 14th century and arrischiare from before 1274.[6][7] The Tuscan form risicare survives today mainly in the proverb chi non risica non rosica “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.[7] In modern Italian the word has technical senses in economics, insurance and banking, and the phrase a rischio describes people or places more exposed than others to harm.[8][2][4]

The word passed into French as risque in 1558 and into English as risk in 1661, where it became productive.[10] Etymonline dates the English word to the 1660s, in the French spelling risque, and notes that Spanish riesgo and German Risiko are loans from Italian.[12] Romanian rizic also comes from the Italian word.[1]

Timeline

  • 1158 – Medieval Latin ad risicum marium et gentium in a Venetian document written at Constantinople.[6]
  • 1193 – Resicu in the Carta picena.[6][7]
  • 1263 – A rischio e aventura in a will.[6]
  • Before 1274 – Arrischiare is first recorded.[7]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses stare a rischio “to be at risk”.[6][8]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses the word for a dangerous event.[6]
  • Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for an imminent danger, rischiare in Francesco da Barberino.[6]
  • 1558 – French risque.[10]
  • 1660s – English risque, later risk.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. risk: the foreseeable possibility of suffering harm, loss or another bad outcome, as a result of one's own conduct or of circumstances: Con questa nebbia c'è il rischio di perdersi.[8][2][4][3]
  2. A hazard, a dangerous situation or venture: Non ama il rischio e investe con prudenza.[8][3][11]
  3. (chiefly plural) The uncertainties that come with an activity: i rischi del mestiere.[8]
  4. (economics) The chance that a business or investment suffers a loss, or that a decision has other effects than those expected.[8][4]
  5. (insurance, law) The event insured against, and the degree of probability that it occurs.[8][4]
  6. (banking) The total amount a bank has lent or committed to a client.[8][3][11]

Word family

  • rischiare
  • rischioso
  • risicare
  • risicato
  • arrischiare

Usage notes

Common phrases are correre il rischio (to run the risk), a rischio di (at the risk of), mettere a rischio (to put at risk), rischio calcolato (calculated risk) and a proprio rischio e pericolo (at one's own risk).[8][2][3][13] A rischio is also used of patients, areas or young people more exposed than others: pazienti a rischio.[2][3][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3262
  11. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  12. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana