hazard (English)

Where does "hazard" come from?

The English noun 'hazard' traces its origins back to the Arabic term 'اَلزَّهْر' meaning 'the dice'[1]. This term passed into Old French as the noun 'hasart' signifying 'a game of dice'[1][3], which was also adapted with the suffix '-art'[3]. The word then entered Middle English as 'hasard' before evolving into its modern English form[1]. Along the way, it gave rise to related terms in other European languages, such as Spanish and Portuguese 'azar'. Over time, the meaning shifted from a specific dice game to encompass a stake in gambling, general chance, and eventually danger or risk.

Full etymology tree

• hazard (English), 'The chance of suffering harm; danger, peril, risk of loss.'
  • inherited hasard (Middle English), 'hazard (dice game, often gambled on)'
    • borrowed hasart (Old French), 'a score of six in a game of hazard'
      • suffix -art (Old French), 'used to form nouns or adjectives, often with pejorative meanings'
      • derived اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr) (Arabic)

Ancestors

• hasard (Middle English)
• hasart (Old French)
• زهر (Arabic)

Cognates and doublets

• azar (Portuguese)
• azar (Spanish)

Descendants and derived words

• hazardous (English)
• antihazard (English)
• chicken-hazard (English)
• fire hazard (English)
• haphazard (English)
• haphazard (English)
• haphazard (English)
• hazardable (English)
• hazardful (English)
• hazardless (English)
• hazard light (English)
• hazard pay (English)

Sources

1. hazard (English) - Wiktionary
2. hasard (Middle English) - Wiktionary
3. hasart (Old French) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris