pericolo Italian · revision 38394

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1292, Bono Giamboni|origins=la perīculum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /peˈri.ko.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pericolo''' ''m'' (plural pericoli)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and literary forms are [[periclo]] and ''periculo'';^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI) GDLI also lists ''perico'', ''perigo'' and ''perigolo''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI) The inherited form is archaic [[periglio]].^(Wiktionary)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|perīculum|t=trial, attempt; risk, danger]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun first meant “trial, test”, then “risk”, and finally “danger”, a shift that was probably helped by its likeness to [[m|la|pereō|t=to perish]].^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|2853)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI) It was formed with the instrumental suffix [[m|la|-culum]] on a verb *perīrī “to try”, known only through [[m|la|perītus|t=experienced]] and [[m|la|experior|t=to try, test]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(OLD 2012)^(GRADIT 2003) Devoto and the OLD compare [[grc|πεῖρα|tr=peîra|t=trial, attempt]], and Wiktionary gives the root as [[ine-pro|*perh₃-|t=to go through, attempt]].^(Devoto 1968)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The word entered the other Romance languages too, mostly in half-learned forms: [[fr|péril]], [[ca|perill]], [[es|peligro]] and [[pt|perigo]].^(DEI|2853)^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Romanian, which lacks an old form, borrowed [[ro|pericol]] from Italian.^(DEI|2853)^(Wiktionary) The inherited Italian form is the archaic [[periglio]], a doublet of “pericolo”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, with the sense “a circumstance or situation that can cause serious harm”.^(DELI 1999) Giamboni writes that Christian Faith “took counsel with her wise men about what was to be done in so great a danger as had befallen her in this war” (''pigliò consiglio da' suoi savi che fosse da fare sopra tanto pericolo quanto in questa guerra le era incontrato'').^(GDLI) Zingarelli dates the word to about 1261.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante has the poetic form in the ''Paradiso'': “Solea creder lo mondo in suo periclo” (the world used to believe, to its peril), which Sabatini–Coletti cite for a literary sense “error, going astray”.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The adjective [[pericoloso]] is found from before 1294 in Guittone d'Arezzo, as ''periculoso'', and [[pericolante]] from before 1348, applied to buildings about to collapse from before 1755.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Benedetto Varchi used the word before 1565 for a mere chance or likelihood, the sense of colloquial ''non c'è pericolo'' “there is no chance”, which Tommaseo described in 1871 as said mostly ironically of a good deed nobody expects someone to do.^(DELI 1999) ''Pericolo giallo'' “yellow peril” is a calque of German ''die gelbe Gefahr'', a phrase coined by Wilhelm II in 1900.^(DEI|2853)^(GDLI) [[pericolosità|alt=Pericolosità]] is first recorded in 1912, in a work on criminal law, and [[spericolato]] “reckless” in 1922.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1261 – Zingarelli's date for the word.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''pericolo'' and ''pericolare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – ''Periculoso'' in Guittone d'Arezzo.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – ''Pericolante'' “in danger” in Giovanni Villani.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses the word for “likelihood”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1900 – Wilhelm II coins the phrase that Italian renders ''pericolo giallo''.^(DEI|2853)^(GDLI)

+ * 1912 – ''Pericolosità'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1922 – ''Spericolato'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|danger]]: a circumstance or situation from which serious harm may come: ''Durante la tempesta i pescatori erano in pericolo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Used as an interjection to warn of a danger or an emergency: ''Pericolo!''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A person or thing that may cause harm; a [[m|en|threat]]: ''Quel cane è un pericolo per i bambini del quartiere.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Likelihood, chance, mostly in negative sentences: ''Non c'è pericolo che si scusi.'' As a reply, ''Non c'è pericolo!'' means “no way!”^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pericoloso]]

+ * [[pericolosità]]

+ * [[pericolante]]

+ * [[pericolare]]

+ * [[spericolato]]

+ * [[spericolatezza]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[periglio]]

+ * [[rischio]]

+ * [[la|periculum]]

+ * [[fr|péril]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''in pericolo'' (in danger), ''fuori pericolo'' (out of danger), ''in pericolo di vita'' (in danger of one's life), ''pericolo pubblico'' (a public menace, also jokingly of a reckless person) and ''a proprio rischio e pericolo'' (at one's own risk).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}