peril
[per-uh l]
noun
exposure to injury, loss, or destruction; grave risk; jeopardy; danger: They faced the peril of falling rocks.
something that causes or may cause injury, loss, or destruction.
verb (used with object), per·iled, per·il·ing or (especially British) per·illed, per·il·ling.
to expose to danger; imperil; risk.
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RELATED WORDS
uncertainty, insecurity, jeopardy, vulnerability, hazard, menace, pitfall, endangerment, liability, openness, exposure
Nearby words
- perigyny,
- perihelion,
- perihepatitis,
- perijejunitis,
- perikaryon,
- peril point,
- perilabyrinthitis,
- perilaryngitis,
- perilla,
- perilla oil
Origin of peril
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Latin perīculum trial, test, danger, equivalent to perī-, verb base meaning “try” (found in the compound experīrī; see experience) + -culum -cle2
Synonym study
1. See danger.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for peril
peril
noun
Word Origin for peril
C13: via Old French from Latin perīculum
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
peril
c.1200, from Old French peril "danger, risk" (10c.), from Latin periculum "an attempt, trial, experiment; risk, danger," with instrumentive suffix -culum and element also found in experiri "to try," cognate with Greek peria "trial, attempt, experience," empeiros "experienced," Old Irish aire "vigilance," Gothic ferja "watcher," Old English fær "danger, fear" (see fear (n.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper