risk
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹɪsk/
homophone: RISC
homophone: risque stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
rhymes: -ɪsk
Forms: form: risks
form: risque
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-. Karla Mallette derives the word from Arabic رِزْق (rizq, “sustenance, that which God allots”) via Sabir.
Cognate with Spanish riesgo, Portuguese risco
Senses: examples: text: There is risk of being brutalized, arrested, imprisoned and tortured, all because I want you to know the truth about this matter.
text: What crop(s) to plant, how much area to devote to each crop, and how much risk to take with respect to rainfall during the season are some of the decisions that must be made.
ref: 1994, S. I. Bhuiyan, On-farm Reservoir Systems for Rainfed Ricelands, page 36:
text: 2006, Trever Ramsey on BBC News website, Exercise 'cuts skin cancer risk' read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4764535.stm on 14 May 2006
text: 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.
ref: 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
text: 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.
ref: 2012 January 23, Stephen Ledoux, “Behaviorism at 100”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 60:
glosses: The probability of a negative outcome to a decision or event.
examples: text: Will they find the prospect of greater risk a cause for concern, rather than a gift from the right?
ref: 2004 April 23, “American Families at Risk”, in The American Prospect:
text: 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
ref: 2012 December 12, “Hekia Parata will not appeal Salisbury decision”, in Manawatu Standard:
text: SEAC acknowledged that their recommendation was a somewhat uneasy compromise between the desire to protect the public from a small chance of a big risk and the desire not to ruin an industry, probably unnecessarily.
ref: 2006, R. Packer, The Politics of BSE, page 196:
glosses: The magnitude of possible loss consequent to a decision or event.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2002, Decisioneering Inc website, What is risk? read at http://www.decisioneering.com/risk-analysis.html on 14 May 2006
topics: business
economics
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: The potential negative effect of an event, determined by multiplying the likelihood of the event occurring with its magnitude should it occur.
examples: text: the imminent and constant risk of assassination, a risk which has shaken very strong nerves
ref: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
synonyms: danger
peril
hazard
glosses: A possible adverse event or outcome.
topics: business
insurance
synonyms: danger
peril
hazard
glosses: A possible adverse event or outcome.
A type of adverse event covered under an insurance policy.
examples: text: That man is going to be a big risk once he's out of prison.
text: Those stairs are a major risk.
text: There was also a "degree of complacency" that the weather in the country was not good enough to present a health risk.
ref: 2006, BBC News website, Farmers warned over skin cancer read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4764525.stm on 14 May 2006
glosses: A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
examples: text: A good credit rating indicates the customer is a desirable risk.
topics: banking
business
finance
glosses: A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
A borrower (such as a mortgage-holder or person with a credit card).
examples: text: Subprime mortgages are poor risks; especially for a pension scheme.
topics: business
finance
glosses: A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
A financial product (typically an investment).
topics: business
insurance
glosses: A thing (from the perspective of how likely or unlikely it is to cause an adverse effect).
An entity insured by an insurer.
Hyponyms: topics: engineering
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
business
word: variance
topics: engineering
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
business
word: standard deviation
topics: engineering
physical-sciences
natural-sciences
business
word: downside beta
Derived terms: assigned risk
assumption of risk
at any risk
at one's own risk
at risk
at the risk of
businessman's risk
calculated risk
country 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
on 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