risk (English)

Where does "risk" come from?

The word 'risk' entered English via Middle French and Old Italian, ultimately displacing the native Old English term 'pleoh.' While its exact path is debated, scholars link the Italian 'risco' either to Latin roots for jagged rocks and nautical dangers, or to Byzantine Greek developments of the Arabic 'rizq,' meaning sustenance or a share of fortune. This complex history reflects a shift in meaning from the physical dangers of navigating a coast to the abstract calculation of potential loss or gain.

Full etymology tree

• risk (English), 'The probability of a negative outcome to a decision or event.'
  • inherited risque (English), 'Alternative form of risqué.'
    • inherited risque (Middle French)
      • borrowed risco (Italian), 'Old Italian form of rischio'
        • inherited rischio (Italian), 'risk, chance, hazard, peril, danger'
          • inherited *resecum (Latin), 'cut'
            • deverbal resecō (Latin), 'to cut off or loose'
          • inherited ῥιζικόν (rhizikón) (Byzantine Greek)
            • inherited رِزْق (rizq) (Arabic), 'daily wage, livelihood, subsistence'
              • inherited ܪܙܩܐ (rezqā) (Classical Syriac), 'subsistence, ration, supply, daily allowance'
                • inherited 𐭫𐭥𐭰𐭩𐭪 (rōzīg) (Middle Persian)
              • inherited ܪܘܙܝܩܐ (rōzīqā) (Classical Syriac)
                • inherited 𐭫𐭥𐭰𐭩𐭪 (rōzīg) (Middle Persian)

Direct ancestors

• resecum (Latin)
• reseco (Latin)
• ῥιζικόν (Ancient Greek)
• ῥίζα (Ancient Greek)
• ܪܙܩܐ (Classical Syriac)
• lewk- (Proto-Indo-European)
• rischio (Italian)
• pleoh (Old English)

Updated July 2026

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