Etymologically
Log in

risco

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word risco

risco1 risk, danger

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1400s a text in Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese
Borrowed from
French risque
Ultimate origin
Medieval Latin risicus
Etymology tree of risco1
inherited borrowed derived
French risque
English risk
Portuguese risco
Romanian risc
From the same root · risco1
French risquer ← risque
English risky ← risk

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈʁis.ku/, [ˈhis.ku][1]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /ˈʁiʃ.ku/, [ˈχiʃ.ku][1]
  • Portugal: /ˈʁiʃ.ku/[1]

Forms

risco m (plural riscos)[1] The 15th century writes risco, risquo and rrisco.[2][3]

Etymology

The word for risk is, according to Houaiss, borrowed from French risque (“danger”), taken from Italian risco, a variant of rischio, which is from Medieval Latin risicus, also riscus, often linked with fortune; in Italian it meant the danger attached to a venture in maritime law and a soldier's luck in war.[2] Wiktionary allows the French word or Spanish risco as the source.[1] The Portuguese word is recorded in the 15th century, and the DHLF dates the French word to 1557.[2][3][4] Cunha and the DLP call the origin obscure.[3][5]

Further back the origin is disputed, and Aurélio derives the Medieval Latin word possibly from Latin resecō (“to cut off”), or else from the Spanish word in its sense “steep cliff”.[6] Corominas thinks that Spanish riesgo, the Italian word and the Portuguese one probably share the origin of the Spanish word for a cliff, from the danger of crossing such places or of sailing near a reef, and that the whole group may come from the Latin verb, but he calls the case obscure.[7][8] Nascentes too connects it with the cliff.[9] Corriente, Pereira and Vicente take the Ibero-Romance word as a metonymy of an Arabic word for the sustenance given by God's grace, from a Pahlavi word for daily provision.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records, of the 15th century, have the sense “danger”.[2][3] Cardoso (1569) and Pereira (1697) gloss Risco as perigo “danger”, with Latin periculum and discrimen.[11][12]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) gives estar a risco de perder a vida “to be in danger of losing one's life” and translates the risks of the sea and of trade with Latin alea “a die, chance”.[13] Vieira (1871–1874) describes it as a danger with an element of chance, with quotations from the 16th-century Palmeirim de Inglaterra and Diogo do Couto.[14] In modern Portuguese the word is also a term of insurance, for the event that gives rise to compensation, and of law, for liability for loss or damage.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 15th century – first record, also spelt risquo and rrisco.[2][3]
  • 1549 – first record of the verb arriscar.[3]
  • 1569 – Cardoso glosses Risco as “danger”.[11]
  • 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives the risks of the sea and of trade.[13]

Meanings

Noun

  1. risk; the likelihood of danger, especially of harm to people or the environment: risco de contágio.[2][6][1]
  2. The likelihood of failure or loss owing to an uncertain event: o negócio corre o risco de falhar.[2][6]
  3. (insurance) An event covered by an insurance policy, which gives rise to compensation: seguro contra o risco de incêndio.[2][6]
  4. (law) Liability for loss or damage.[2][3]
  5. A risky situation.[1]

Word family

  • arriscar
  • arriscado

risco2 line, stroke

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1519 spelt risquo
Ultimate origin
Latin resecō

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈʁis.ku/, [ˈhis.ku][1]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /ˈʁiʃ.ku/, [ˈχiʃ.ku][1]
  • Portugal: /ˈʁiʃ.ku/[1]

Forms

risco m (plural riscos)[1]

Etymology

The word for a line or stroke is a back-formation from Portuguese riscar (“to draw lines on, scratch”), as Nascentes, Aurélio and the DLP explain it.[9][6][5] Houaiss calls the origin disputed: a back-formation from the verb, or the same origin as the word for risk.[2] The verb itself probably comes from Latin resecō (“to cut off”).[15][16]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1519, spelt risquo, and the spelling risco to 1589.[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) has risco de penna “a pen stroke” and the painter's first sketch, made only of outlines and lines.[13]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the sense “drawing, sketch” of a picture or building to 1720.[2] Folqman (1755) also records risco for the mark made to keep the score in a game.[17] In Brazilian architecture risco is the original design of a building, and in embroidery the pattern traced to be sewn.[6][5] In popular speech it means a knife or razor slash, and in Bahia the line of the horizon.[2][5]

Timeline

  • 1519 – first record, spelt risquo.[2]
  • 1589 – the spelling risco.[2]
  • 1712–1728 – Bluteau records risco de penna and the painter's sketch.[13]
  • 1720 – the sense “drawing, sketch”.[2]
  • 1755 – Folqman records the scoring mark in a game.[17]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A line or stroke drawn on a surface with a pencil, pen or a sharp point; a risca.[2][6][1]
  2. A scratch or shallow cut on a surface: o carro ficou com um risco na porta.[2][5][1]
  3. A drawing or sketch;[2][6][1] (architecture) the plan or design of a building.[2][6][1]
  4. (Brazil, embroidery) The pattern traced on cloth to be embroidered.[2][5]
  5. Each of the vertical lines of a ruled page.[2][6]
  6. (informal) A knife or razor slash.[2][5]
  7. (Bahia) The line of the horizon.[2]
  • arriscadamente
  • risca
  • riscado
  • riscador
  • riscadura
  • riscamento
  • riscar
  • Spanish riesgo
  • French risque

Usage notes

Morais (1789) also records risco for a very high and steep crag, the sense of the Spanish word.[18][7] The phrase pôr o risco mais alto que outrem meant to surpass someone.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 q r s t u v w x y Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. risco
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. risco
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. risque
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. risco
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. risco
  7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 13
  8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. riesgo
  9. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. risco
  10. ^ Corriente, Federico; Pereira, Christophe; Vicente, Ángeles (2019), Dictionnaire des emprunts ibéro-romans: emprunts à l'arabe et aux langues du monde islamique (Encyclopédie linguistique d'Al-Andalus 3), Berlin: De Gruyter, p. s.v. risc
  11. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. risco
  12. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. risco
  13. ^ a b c d Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. risco
  14. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 311
  15. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. riscar
  16. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. riscar
  17. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. risco
  18. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 350

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Risco.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/risco. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·