jeopardy

See also: Jeopardy

English

Etymology

From Middle English jupartie, jeopardie (“even chance”), from Old French jeu parti (“a divided game, i.e. an even game, an even chance”), from Medieval Latin iocus partītus (“an even chance, an alternative”), from Latin iocus (“jest, play, game”) + partītus, perfect passive participle of partiō (“divide”); see joke and party.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛpədi/
• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛpɚdi/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

jeopardy (usually uncountable, plural jeopardies)

1. Danger of loss, harm, or failure.

   The poor condition of the vehicle put its occupants in constant jeopardy.

   • 2006, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: Killer Smile, Introduction, p.4

     It seemed to me I could do something in that vein with my characters: the ticking clock, dire jeopardy, quick changes of fortune, small acts having huge consequences.

   • 2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     When Obinna was red carded shortly after for a ridiculous kick on Larsson it seemed as though West Ham's hopes of reaching Wembley, and in turn Grant's of keeping his job, lay in serious jeopardy.

Synonyms

• danger
• hazard
• peril
• risk
• gamble

Derived terms

• double jeopardy
• jeopard
• jeopardize

Translations

danger of loss, harm, or failure

• Armenian: վտանգ (hy) (vtang)
• Bulgarian: опасност (bg) f (opasnost), риск (bg) m (risk)
• Catalan: perill (ca) m, risc (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 危險／危险 (zh) (wēixiǎn), 危险 (zh) (wēixiǎn), 風險／风险 (zh) (fēngxiǎn), 风险 (zh) (fēngxiǎn)

• Dutch: gevaar (nl) n
• Finnish: vaara (fi)
• French: danger (fr) m, péril (fr) m, risque (fr) m
• Galician: perigo (gl) m, risco m
• Georgian: საფრთხე (saprtxe), საშიშროება (sašišroeba), ხიფათი (xipati), განსაცდელი (gansacdeli), რისკი (risḳi)
• German: Gefahr (de) f, Risiko (de) n
• Italian: pericolo (it), rischio (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 危険 (ja) (きけん, kiken), リスク (ja) (risuku)
• Persian: خطر (fa) (xatar)
• Portuguese: perigo (pt)
• Russian: опа́сность (ru) f (opásnostʹ), риск (ru) m (risk)
• Scottish Gaelic: cunnart m
• Serbo-Croatian: rizik (sh) m, opasnost (sh) f
• Spanish: peligro (es) m, riesgo (es) m
• Swedish: fara (sv) c
• Turkish: risk (tr), tehlike (tr)

Verb

jeopardy (third-person singular simple present jeopardies, present participle jeopardying, simple past and past participle jeopardied)

1. (transitive, archaic) To jeopardize; to endanger.

Further reading

• “jeopardy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “jeopardy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.