péril (French)

Where does "péril" come from?

The French noun 'péril' is inherited from Old French 'peril'[1], which in turn descends from Latin 'perīculum'[2][3]. The Latin term ultimately traces back through Proto-Italic '*perei-tlom' to the Proto-Indo-European root '*perh₃-', meaning 'to go through, carry forth, attempt'[3]. Along the way, the Latin 'perīculum' underwent a syncopated Vulgar Latin development into '*periclu(m)' before reaching its modern French form[1]. The word has consistently retained meanings related to danger and peril[1].

Open questions

• The Vulgar Latin form '*periclu(m)' is a reconstructed syncopated intermediate step. [1]
• The Proto-Italic form '*perei-tlom' and the Proto-Indo-European root '*perh₃-' are linguistic reconstructions. [3]

Full etymology tree

• péril (French), 'peril, danger'
  • inherited peril (Old French), 'peril; hazard; danger'
    • inherited periculum (Latin), 'trial, experiment, attempt, proof, essay'
      • derived *perītlom (Latin)
        • suffix -culum (Latin), 'suffix used to derive nouns from verbs, particularly nouns for tools and instruments'
        • inherited *perei-tlom (Proto-Italic)
          • inherited *perh₃- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to provide, produce, beget'

Ancestors

• peril (Old French)
• periculum (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

• à ses risques et périls (French)
• au péril de sa vie (French)
• à vaincre sans péril, on triomphe sans gloire (French)
• mettre en péril (French)
• péril jaune (French)
• y avoir péril en la demeure (French)

Sources

1. péril (French) - Wiktionary
2. peril (Old French) - Wiktionary
3. periculum (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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