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danger

 - 5 dictionary results

dan⋅ger

[deyn-jer]
–noun
1. liability or exposure to harm or injury; risk; peril.
2. an instance or cause of peril; menace.
3. Obsolete. power; jurisdiction; domain.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME da(u)nger < AF; OF dangier, alter. of dongier (by influence of dam damage ) < VL *domniārium, equiv. to L domini(um) dominion + -ārium, neut. of -ārius -ary


dan⋅ger⋅less, adjective


1. Danger, hazard, peril, jeopardy imply harm that one may encounter. Danger is the general word for liability to all kinds of injury or evil consequences, either near at hand and certain, or remote and doubtful: to be in danger of being killed. Hazard suggests a danger that one can foresee but cannot avoid: A mountain climber is exposed to many hazards. Peril usually denotes great and imminent danger: The passengers on the disabled ship were in great peril. Jeopardy, a less common word, has essentially the same meaning as peril, but emphasizes exposure to the chances of a situation: To save his friend he put his life in jeopardy.

dang

[dang]
–verb (used with object), adjective, noun
damn (used euphemistically).

Origin:
1780–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To danger
dan·ger   (dān'jər)   
n.  
  1. Exposure or vulnerability to harm or risk.

  2. A source or an instance of risk or peril.

  3. Obsolete Power, especially power to harm.


[Middle English daunger, power, dominion, peril, from Old French dangier, from Vulgar Latin *dominiārium, authority, power, from Latin dominium, sovereignty, from dominus, lord, master; see dem- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

dang 
1793, euphemism for damn.

danger 
c.1225, "power of a lord or master, jurisdiction," from Anglo-Fr. daunger, from O.Fr. dangier "power to harm, mastery," alteration (due to assoc. with damnum) of dongier, from V.L. *dominarium "power of a lord," from L. dominus "lord, master" (see domain). Modern sense of "risk, peril" (from being in the control of someone or something else) evolved first in Fr., and in Eng. 1375. Replaced O.E. pleoh.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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