rischio Italian · revision 38396

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=1193, Carta picena (as resicu)|origins=ar رزق}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈris.kjo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''rischio''' ''m'' (plural rischi)^(Wiktionary)

+ The archaic form is [[roa-oit|risco]], and Tuscan also has [[risico]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) Popular Tuscan once had ''ristio''.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin of this word, a common term of trade since the Middle Ages, has long been disputed.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The explanation that DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT now favour was set out by Henry and Renée Kahane: it is [[bor|gkm|ῥιζικόν|tr=rhizikón|t=fate, lot]], from [[ar|رزق|tr=rizq|t=gift of providence; lot, fortune]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) 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.^(DELI 1999) 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”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) From the middle of the 12th century [[la-med|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.^(Nocentini 2010) 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”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ For a long time the usual explanation was [[la-vul|*resecum|t=reef]], from [[la|resecō|t=to cut off]], a rock that cuts being a danger to ships.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) Wartburg and Corominas favoured a Latin origin of this kind.^(DELI 1999) Cortelazzo argued for a Greek origin, from the Byzantine word for “fate” itself, which some derived from [[grc|ῥίζα|tr=rhíza]] (glossed “reef” by DELI and “root” by Nocentini) and others from a Greek word for “rescue, protection”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI) 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.^(DEI|3262) Sabatini–Coletti, Zingarelli and Gabrielli call the origin uncertain.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ The same word is [[oc|resegue]], [[ca|risc]], [[es|riesgo]] and [[pt|risco]].^(Nocentini 2010) [[fr|risque]] came from the Italian variant [[roa-oit|risco]] and gave [[en|risk]], and [[de|Risiko]] came from the variant [[risico]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record in Italian is ''resicu'' in the Carta picena of 1193.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) 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.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) 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.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==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.^(DELI 1999) 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'').^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Tommaseo noted that the word was close to [[pericolo]] in sense, but weaker.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The verb [[rischiare]] is recorded from before 1348, the adjective [[rischioso]] from the first half of the 14th century and [[arrischiare]] from before 1274.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The Tuscan form [[risicare]] survives today mainly in the proverb ''chi non risica non rosica'' “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.^(Nocentini 2010) 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.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ The word passed into French as ''risque'' in 1558 and into English as ''risk'' in 1661, where it became productive.^(DEI|3262) 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.^(Etymonline) [[ro|rizic]] also comes from the Italian word.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1158 – Medieval Latin ''ad risicum marium et gentium'' in a Venetian document written at Constantinople.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1193 – ''Resicu'' in the Carta picena.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1263 – ''A rischio e aventura'' in a will.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1274 – ''Arrischiare'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''stare a rischio'' “to be at risk”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses the word for a dangerous event.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for an imminent danger, ''rischiare'' in Francesco da Barberino.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1558 – French ''risque''.^(DEI|3262)

+ * 1660s – English ''risque'', later ''risk''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|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.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|hazard]], a dangerous situation or venture: ''Non ama il rischio e investe con prudenza.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(chiefly plural)'' The uncertainties that come with an activity: ''i rischi del mestiere''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(economics)'' The chance that a business or investment suffers a loss, or that a decision has other effects than those expected.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(insurance, law)'' The event insured against, and the degree of probability that it occurs.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(banking)'' The total amount a bank has lent or committed to a client.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[rischiare]]

+ * [[rischioso]]

+ * [[risicare]]

+ * [[risicato]]

+ * [[arrischiare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pericolo]]

+ * [[fr|risque]]

+ * [[en|risk]]

+

+ ==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).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) ''A rischio'' is also used of patients, areas or young people more exposed than others: ''pazienti a rischio''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}