precarious

English

Etymology

From Latin precārius (“begged for, obtained by entreaty”), from prex, precis (“prayer”). Compare French précaire and Spanish, Portuguese and Italian precario.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /prəˈkɛəriəs/
• (US) IPA: /prəˈkɛriəs/
• Rhymes: -ɛəriəs

Adjective

precarious (comparative more precarious, superlative most precarious)

1. (comparable) dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous
2. (law) depending on the intention of another

Usage notes

• Because the pre- element of precarious derives from prex and not the preposition prae, this term cannot — etymologically speaking — be written as *præcarious.

Quotations

• 1906, Jack London, White Fang, part I, ch III,

  Never had he been so fond of this body of his as now when his tenure of it was so precarious.

Derived terms

• precariously
• precariousness
• precarisation, precarization
• precariat

Translations

Translations

Bulgarian: несигурен Dutch: precair (nl) French: précaire (fr) m. and f. German: prekär (de)

Portuguese: precário Serbo-Croatian: krhak (sh), nesiguran (sh) Swedish: prekär (sv) Yiddish: אומזיכער

External links

• precarious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• precarious in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911