risk
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Risk
Alternative forms
Etymology
From earlier risque, from Middle French risque, from Old Italian risco (“risk”) (modern Italian rischio) and rischiare (“to run into danger”). Displaced native Old English pleoh (“risk”) and plēon (“to risk”).
speculation on earlier roots
Most dictionaries consider the etymology of these Italian terms uncertain, but some suggest they perhaps come from Vulgar Latin *resecum (“that which cuts, rock, crag”) (> Medieval Latin resicu), from Latin resecō (“cut off, loose, curtail”, verb), in the sense of that which is a danger to boating or shipping; or from Ancient Greek ῥιζικόν (rhizikón, “root, radical, hazard”).
A few dictionaries express more certainty. Collins says the Italian risco comes from Ancient Greek ῥίζα (rhíza, “cliff”) due to the hazards of sailing along rocky coasts. The American Heritage says it probably comes from Byzantine Greek ῥιζικό, ριζικό (rhizikó, rizikó, “sustenance obtained by a soldier through his own initiative, fortune”), from Arabic رِزْق (rizq, “sustenance, that which God allots”), from Classical Syriac ܪܘܙܝܩܐ ,ܪܙܩܐ (rezqā, rōzīqā, “daily ration”), from Middle Persian [script needed] (rōčig), from Middle Persian [script needed] (rōč, “day”), from Old Persian [script needed] (*raučah-), from Proto-Indo-European *lewk-.
Cognate with Spanish riesgo, Portuguese risco
Pronunciation
Noun
risk (countable and uncountable, plural risks)
- (uncountable) The probability of a negative outcome to a decision or event.
- There is risk of being brutalized, arrested, imprisoned and tortured, all because I want you to know the truth about this matter.
- 2006, Trever Ramsey on BBC News website, Exercise 'cuts skin cancer risk' read at on 14 May 2006
- 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
- Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you.
Taking regular exercise, coupled with a healthy diet, reduced the risk of several types of cancer.
- 2012 January, Stephen Ledoux, “Behaviorism at 100”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 60:
- Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training.
- (uncountable) The magnitude of possible loss consequent to a decision or event.
- 2012 December 12, “Hekia Parata will not appeal Salisbury decision”, in Manawatu Standard:
- The decision was also unlawful in disregarding the prospect of greater risk of sexual or physical abuse to girls at a co-educational residential school
- (uncountable, economics, business and engineering) The potential negative effect of an event, determined by multiplying the likelihood of the event occurring with its magnitude should it occur.
- 2002, Decisioneering Inc website, What is risk? read at on 14 May 2006
- If there is a 25% chance of running over schedule, costing you a $100 out of your own pocket, that might be a risk you are willing to take. But if you have a 5% chance of running overschedule, knowing that there is a $10,000 penalty, you might be less willing to take that risk.
- 2002, Decisioneering Inc website, What is risk? read at on 14 May 2006
- (countable) A possible adverse event or outcome.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 7, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- the imminent and constant risk of assassination, a risk which has shaken very strong nerves
- (countable) A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
- That man is going to be a big risk once he's out of prison.
- Those stairs are a major risk.
- 2006, BBC News website, Farmers warned over skin cancer read at on 14 May 2006
- There was also a "degree of complacency" that the weather in the country was not good enough to present a health risk.
- (banking, finance) A borrower (such as a mortgage-holder or person with a credit card).
- A good credit rating indicates the customer is a desirable risk.
- (finance) A financial product (typically an investment).
- Subprime mortgages are poor risks; especially for a pension scheme.
- (insurance) An entity insured by an insurer.
Usage notes
When referring to some possible cause of an adverse effect as "a risk", the default position is that one is referring to how likely it is to cause an adverse effect. Such use is qualified with adjectives that refer to magnitude, such as "major", "large" or "tiny". However, adjectives that refer to quality (such as "good" or "undesirable") indicate that one is referring to how unlikely the adverse effect is, and this usage is invariably restricted to monetary contexts. On the other hand, the former sense may be used in any context (including monetary risks). In academic finance, risk is associated with the variance of the expected outcome, and not with the probability of outcomes (see Black-Scholes)
Hyponyms
- (formal business and engineering): variance, standard deviation, downside beta
Derived terms
- assigned risk
- at one's own risk
- at risk
- at the risk of
- businessman's risk
- calculated risk
- credit risk
- currency risk
- diversifiable risk
- exchange rate risk
- existential risk
- external risk
- extreme risk law
- extreme risk protection order
- financial risk
- flight risk
- foreign exchange risk
- funding liquidity risk
- FX risk
- health risk
- high-risk
- inflation risk
- key man risk
- key person risk
- low-risk
- market risk
- non-diversifiable risk
- nondiversifiable risk
- operational risk
- political risk
- residual risk
- risk analysis
- risk appetite
- risk assessment
- risk-assess, risk-assessed
- risk-averse
- risk aversion
- risk-aversity
- risk capital
- risk equalisation
- risk factor
- risk-free
- risk management
- risk-off
- risk-on
- risk premium
- risk profile
- risk society
- risk-taking
- risk universe
- risk visualization
- run a risk
- run the risk
- seismic risk
- specific risk
- systematic risk
- tail risk
- take a risk
- undiversifiable risk
- unsystematic risk
- X-risk
- x-risk
Translations
possible, usually negative, outcome
|
likelihood of a negative outcome
|
business etc.: potential (conventionally negative) effect of an event
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
risk (third-person singular simple present risks, present participle risking, simple past and past participle risked)
- (transitive) To incur risk of (an unwanted or negative outcome).
- (transitive) To incur risk of harming or jeopardizing.
- (transitive) To incur risk as a result of (doing something).
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Derived terms
Translations
to incur risk to something
|
to incur risk of something
|
to incur risk by something
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also
Further reading
Risk in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)- “risk”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- risk in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- “risk”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
risk on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
Pronunciation
Noun
risk m inan
Declension
Declension of risk (velar masculine inanimate)
Related terms
Further reading
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
risk c
Declension
Declension of risk
Derived terms
- rasrisk
- på egen risk
- riskfaktor
- riskfylld
- riskkapitalist
- riskvillig
- säkerhetsrisk
Related terms
Anagrams
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
risk (definite accusative riski, plural riskler)
- risk (all senses)
Declension
| Inflection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | risk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Definite accusative | riski | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nominative | risk | riskler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Definite accusative | riski | riskleri | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dative | riske | risklere | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locative | riskte | risklerde | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ablative | riskten | risklerden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genitive | riskin | risklerin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
