risk
/ɹɪsk/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.05 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The potential negative effect of an event, determined by multiplying the likelihood of the event occurring with its magnitude should it occur.
Uncountable
noun
A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
Countable
noun
A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "There is risk of being brutalized, arrested, imprisoned and tortured, all because I want you to know the truth about this matter."
- "What crop(s) to plant, how much area to devote to each crop, and how much risk to take with respect to rainfall during the season are some of the decisions that must be made."
- "2006, Trever Ramsey on BBC News website, Exercise 'cuts skin cancer risk' read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4764535.stm on 14 May 2006"
- "Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. Taking regular exercise, coupled with a healthy diet, reduced the risk of several types of cancer."
- "Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training."
- "Will they find the prospect of greater risk a cause for concern, rather than a gift from the right?"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re- Proto-Indo-European *sek- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *sékh₁yeti Proto-Italic *sekaō Latin seco Latin resecōdeverb. Vulgar Latin *resecum Old Italian riscobor. ▲ Old Italian risco Italian rischio Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Italian -are Italian rischiarebor. Middle French risquebor. English risque English risk From earlier risque, from Middle French risque, from Old Italian risco (“risk”) (modern Italian rischio) and rischiare (“to run into danger”). Displaced native Old English pleoh (“risk”) and plēon (“to risk”). Speculation on earlier roots Most dictionaries consider the etymology of these Italian terms uncertain, but some suggest they perhaps come from Vulgar Latin *resecum (“that which cuts, rock, crag”) (> Medieval Latin resicu), from Latin resecō (“cut off, loose, curtail”, verb), in the sense of that which is a danger to boating or shipping; or from Ancient Greek ῥιζικόν (rhizikón, “root, radical, hazard”). A few dictionaries express more certainty. Collins says the Italian risco comes from Ancient Greek ῥίζα (rhíza, “cliff”) due to the hazards of sailing along rocky coasts. The American Heritage says it probably comes from Byzantine Greek ῥιζικό, ριζικό (rhizikó, rizikó, “sustenance obtained by a soldier through his own initiative, fortune”), from Arabic رِزْق (rizq, “sustenance, that which God allots”), from Classical Syriac ܪܘܙܝܩܐ ,ܪܙܩܐ (rezqā, rōzīqā, “daily ration”), from Middle Persian [script needed] (rōzīg) (whence Classical Persian روزِی (rōzī)), from Middle Persian [script needed] (rōz, “day”) (whence Classical Persian روز (rōz)), from Old Persian 𐎼𐎢𐎨𐏃 (raučah) (cognate with Sanskrit रोचस् (rocas, “light, lustre”)), from Proto-Iranian *ráwčah, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ráwčas, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *léwk-os, from *lewk- (“bright; to shine”) + *-os (noun suffix). Karla Mallette derives the word from Arabic رِزْق (rizq, “sustenance, that which God allots”) via Sabir. Cognate with Spanish riesgo, Portuguese risco