danger

English

Etymology

From Middle English daunger ("power, dominion, peril"), from Anglo-Norman dangier , from Old French dangier , alteration of Old French dongier (due to association with Latin damnum ("damage")) from Vulgar Latin *dominiārium ("authority, power") from Latin dominus ("lord, master").^[1] Displaced native Old English frēcennes .

Pronunciation

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(Received Pronunciation ) IPA ^(key): /ˈdeɪn.d͡ʒə/
(General American ) IPA ^(key): /ˈdeɪn.d͡ʒɚ/
- Audio (California ): (file)
- Audio (North Carolina ): (file)
(Australia , New Zealand ) IPA ^(key): /ˈdæɪn.d͡ʒə/
Rhymes: -eɪndʒə(ɹ)
Hyphenation: dan‧ger

Noun

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danger (countable and uncountable , plural dangers )

Exposure to likely harm; risk of death or serious injury.
Synonym: (stronger) peril

There's plenty of danger in the desert.
- 1821, William Hazlitt, "Essay IX. The Indian Jugglers.", in Table-Talk; or, Original Essays , volume I, London: John Warren, [...], →OCLC, page 187:
  Danger is a good teacher, and makes apt scholars.
- 1966, "Cool McCool (theme song)", Bernie Green (music) (Cool McCool (television series)), performed by Bob McFadden:
  The Owl is flying high, frightening to the eye.
  The Rattler is nearby, Cool is on the fly.
  Danger is his business.
- 2024, NTSB, Intersection Crash Between Passenger Car and Combination Vehicle, Tishomingo, Oklahoma, March 22, 2022:
  We determined that the car driver’s transportation of multiple teen passengers, limited driving experience, and likely impairment from effects of cannabis at the time of the crash adversely affected her judgment of the danger of entering the intersection in front of the approaching combination vehicle.
- 2025 November 12, Philip Haigh, "High praise for rail staff's courage and clear thinking", in RAIL, number 1048, page 50:
  Huntingdon's ferocity makes the reaction of staff all the more brave. To move towards danger when others are fleeing is the definition of bravery in my book. To place yourself in danger to protect others.
An instance or cause of likely serious harm.
- 1st September 1884, William Gladstone, Second Midlothian Speech
  Two territorial questions [...] unsettled [...] each of which was a positive danger to the peace of Europe.
(obsolete ) Mischief.
- 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, "The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar", in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [...] (First Folio), London: [...] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
  We put a Sting in him, / That at his will he may doe danger with.
(mainly outside US, rail transport ) The stop indication of a signal (usually in the phrase "at danger").
The north signal was at danger because of the rockslide.
(obsolete ) Ability to harm; someone's dominion or power to harm or penalise. See in one's danger, below.
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice", in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [...] (First Folio), London: [...] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 180:
  You stand within his danger, do you not?
- 1551, Thomas More, "(please specify the Internet Archive page)", in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: [...] , London: [...] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, [...], →OCLC:
  Covetousness of gains hath brought [them] in danger of this statute.
(obsolete ) Liability.
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt [...] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew:
  Thou shalt not kyll. Whosoever shall kyll, shalbe in daunger of iudgement.
(obsolete ) Difficulty; sparingness; hesitation.
- 1500, Melusine:
  They of Coloyne made grete daunger to lete passe the oost thrughe the Cite at brydge.
- 1570, A. Dalaber, J. Foxe Actes & Monuments:
  I made daunger of it a while at first, but afterward beyng persuaded by them..I promised to do as they would haue me.
- 1652, John Fletcher, The Wild-Goose Chase:
  I shall make danger, sure.
(UK , derogatory ) A contemptible person, especially one seen as perverted or mentally ill.
- 2017 July 28, Gary Ogden, "Ridiculous food combinations that are actually really tasty", in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1]:
  Pineapple and pizza. ONLY JOKING YOU FUCKING DANGER.
- 2019 July 31, Oonagh Keating, quoting Stephen Patten, "We asked you to caption a photo of Boris Johnson holding a chicken – our 19 favourites", in The Poke‎^[2]:
  Why did the chicken cross the road?
  "To try and get away from you, you absolute danger. I've heard all about you posh boy Etonians and farmyard animals"

→ Esperanto: danĝero

Translations

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exposure to likely harm

Afrikaans: gevaar
Albanian: rrezik (sq) m
Amharic: አደጋ (ʾädäga)
Ao:
- Chungli Ao: lendong
Arabic: خَطَر m (ḵaṭar)
Egyptian Arabic: خطر m (ḵaṭar)
Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: վտանգ (hy) (vtang)
Assamese: বিপদ (bipod)
Asturian: peligru m
Azerbaijani: təhlükə (az)
Bashkir: please add this translation if you can
Basque: arrisku
Belarusian: небяспе́ка f (njebjaspjéka), небясьпе́ка f (njebjasʹpjéka)
Bengali: বিপদ (bn) (bipod)
Breton: please add this translation if you can
Bulgarian: опа́сност (bg) f (opásnost)
Burmese: ဘယာ (my) (bha.ya), ဘေး (my) (bhe:), အန္တရာယ် (my) (anta.ray)
Catalan: perill (ca) m
Chechen: кхерам (qeram)
Cherokee: ᎦᏂᏰᎩ (ganiyegi)
Chichewa: please add this translation if you can
Chinese:
Cantonese: 危險 / 危险 (ngai⁴ him²)

Mandarin: 危險 / 危险 (zh) (wēixiǎn)
Chukchi: гыаргыргын (gyargyrgyn)
Chuvash: please add this translation if you can
Czech: nebezpečí (cs) n
Danish: fare (da) c
Dutch: gevaar (nl) n
Esperanto: danĝero
Estonian: oht (et) , hädaoht
Ewe: please add this translation if you can
Faroese: vandi m
Finnish: vaara (fi) , uhka (fi)
French: danger (fr) m, péril (fr)
Frisian:
West Frisian: please add this translation if you can
Friulian: pericul m
Galician: perigo (gl) m
Georgian: საფრთხე (saprtxe)
German: Gefahr (de) f
Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐌴𐌹 f (bireikei), 𐍃𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌴𐌹 f (sleiþei)
Greek: κίνδυνος (el) m (kíndynos)
Ancient Greek: κίνδυνος m (kíndunos)
Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
Haitian Creole: danje
Hausa: please add this translation if you can
Hebrew: סַכָּנָה (he) f (sakaná)
Hindi: जोखिम (hi) m (jokhim), ख़तरा m (xatrā), विपदा (hi) f (vipdā), प्रमाद (hi) m (pramād), संकट (hi) m (saṅkaṭ), विपत्ति (hi) f (vipatti), खतरा (hi) m (khatrā)
Hungarian: veszély (hu)
Icelandic: hætta (is) f
Ido: danjero (io)
Igbo: itu egwu (ig)
Indonesian: bahaya (id)
Ingush: кхерам (qeram)
Irish: contúirt f, dainséar m
Italian: pericolo (it) m
Japanese: 危険 (ja) (きけん, kiken)
Javanese: bebaya (jv)
Kannada: ಕುತ್ತ (kn) (kutta)
Kazakh: қауіп (qawip), қатер (qater), қауіптілік (qawiptilik)
Khmer: គ្រោះថ្នាក់ (km) (krŭəh thnak), អន្តរាយ (km) (ʼɑntaʼraay)
Kikuyu: ũgwati class 14
Korean: 위험(危險) (ko) (wiheom)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: talûke (ku) , xeter (ku) , metirsî (ku) f
Kyrgyz: коркунуч (ky) (korkunuc)
Ladin: pericul m
Ladino: perikolo m
Lao: ອັນຕະລາຍ (ʼan ta lāi), ອັນຕະຣາຽ (ʼan ta rāi)
Latin: periculum (la) n
Latvian: briesmas m, bīstamība f
Limburgish: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: pavojus m
Luxembourgish: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: опасност f (opasnost)
Malagasy: please add this translation if you can
Malay: bahaya (ms)
Malayalam: ആപത്ത് (ml) (āpattŭ), അപായം (ml) (apāyaṁ)
Maltese: periklu
Māori: tatamate
Marathi: please add this translation if you can
Mauritian Creole: danze
Middle English: peril , danger , dred
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: аюул (mn) (ajuul), зэтгэр (zetger)
Nahuatl:
Classical Nahuatl: ohuihcāyōtl
Navajo: please add this translation if you can
Nepali: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: fare (no) m
Occitan: perilh (oc) m
Old English: frēcennes f, fǣr m, ġefǣr m
Old Saxon: fāra f, fār m or f, gifār n
Oromo: balaa
Pali: antarāya m
Pashto: خطر (ps) m (xatár)
Persian:
Dari: خَطَر (xatar)

Iranian Persian: خَطَر (xatar)
Plautdietsch: Jefoa f
Polish: niebezpieczeństwo (pl) n
Portuguese: perigo (pt) m
Punjabi: please add this translation if you can
Romanian: pericol (ro) n, primejdie (ro) f
Romansh: privel m, prighel m, prievel m
Russian: опа́сность (ru) f (opásnostʹ)
Saho: siraye
Sanskrit: त्यजस् (sa) n (tyajas)
Sardinian: perículu , perígulu , pirígulu
Scottish Gaelic: cunnart m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: опа́сно̄ст f

Latin: opásnōst (sh) f
Sicilian: pirìculu (scn) , perìculu (scn) , prìculu (scn)
Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
Sinhalese: අන්ත්‍රාව (antrāwa)
Slovak: nebezpečie n
Slovene: nevarnost (sl) f
Somali: khatar
Spanish: peligro (es) m, discrimen m
Swahili: hatari (sw)
Swedish: fara (sv) c
Tagalog: panganib (tl)
Tajik: хатар (tg) (xatar), хавф (tg) (xavf)
Tamil: அபாயம் (ta) (apāyam), ஆபத்து (ta) (āpattu)
Tatar: куркыныч (qurqınıç)
Telugu: ప్రమాదము (te) (pramādamu)
Thai: อันตราย (th) (an-dtà-raai)
Tibetan: ཉེན་ཁ (nyen kha)
Tocharian A: sanu
Tocharian B: ñyātse
Turkish: tehlike (tr) , muhatara (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: قورقو (korku), تهلكه (tehlike)
Turkmen: howp , hovp , hatar
Tuvan: айыыл (ayııl)
Ukrainian: небезпе́ка f (nebezpéka)
Ulithian: hammwarag
Urdu: خَطْرَہ m (xatra), جوکِھم f (jokhim)
Uyghur: خەتەر (xeter)
Uzbek: xatar (uz) , xavflilik (uz)
Venetan: pericoło m, pericol , pericolo , perigoło
Vietnamese: nguy hiểm (vi) (危險 )
Volapük: pölig , riskäd (vo) sg
Walloon: dandjî (wa) m
Welsh: perygl (cy) m
Xhosa: ingozi
Yakut: куттал (kuttal), эндиэ (endie)
Yiddish: געפאַר f (gefar)
Yoruba: please add this translation if you can
Zulu: ingozi (zu)

instance or cause of likely harm

Arabic: خَطَر m (ḵaṭar)
Armenian: վտանգ (hy) (vtang), սպառնալիք (hy) (spaṙnalikʻ)
Asturian: peligru m
Belarusian: небяспе́ка f (njebjaspjéka), небясьпе́ка f (njebjasʹpjéka), пагро́за f (pahróza)
Bulgarian: запла́ха (bg) f (zapláha), опа́сност (bg) f (opásnost)
Czech: nebezpečí (cs) n
Danish: fare (da) c
Dutch: gevaar (nl) n, bedreiging (nl) f
Finnish: uhka (fi) , vaara (fi)
French: danger (fr) m
Galician: perigo (gl) m
German: Gefahr (de) f, Bedrohung (de) f
Greek: κίνδυνος (el) m (kíndynos)
Haitian Creole: danje
Hebrew: סַכָּנָה (he) f (sakaná)
Hindi: परेशानी (hi) f (pareśānī)
Ido: danjero (io)
Indonesian: bahaya (id)
Irish: contúirt f, dainséar m
Italian: pericolo (it) m
Javanese: bebaya (jv)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: پەرێشان (perêşan)
Māori: mōreareatanga
Old English: frēcennes f
Plautdietsch: Jefoa f
Polish: zagrożenie (pl) n
Portuguese: perigo (pt) m
Romanian: pericol (ro) n
Russian: опа́сность (ru) f (opásnostʹ), угро́за (ru) f (ugróza)
Scottish Gaelic: cunnart m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: опасност f

Latin: opasnost (sh) f
Spanish: peligro (es) m, discrimen m
Swahili: hatari (sw)
Swedish: fara (sv) c
Turkish: tehlike (tr) , muhatara (tr)
Ukrainian: небезпе́ка f (nebezpéka), загро́за f (zahróza)

stop indication of a railway signal

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

Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} hætta (is)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: (3) ^{(please verify)} xeter (ku) f, (3) ^{(please verify)} talûke (ku) f, (3) ^{(please verify)} bive (ku) f, (3) ^{(please verify)} gef (ku) f, (3) ^{(please verify)} rîsk (ku) f
Lithuanian: (3) ^{(please verify)} pavojus m
Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} fare (no)
Woiwurrung: ^{(please verify)} nilim

Verb

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danger (third-person singular simple present dangers , present participle dangering , simple past and past participle dangered ) (obsolete )

To claim liability.
To imperil; to endanger.
- c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, "The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra", in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [...] (First Folio), London: [...] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
  The sides o'th' world may danger. Much is breeding
To run the risk.