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danger

DAYN-jur/ˈdeɪn.d͡ʒɚ/UKDAYN-juh/ˈdeɪn.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/

Pluraldangers (some meanings)

12 meanings of danger

Practice

  1. 1
    noununcountable
    The state of being exposed to likely harm or injury.

    The climbers ignored the danger and pushed on toward the summit.

    Soldiers on the front line face constant danger for months at a time.

    UsageUsually with in: in danger, in great danger, out of danger, and put someone in danger.

    Similarperil, jeopardy

    Oppositesafety, security

    Note

    The everyday sense sits at the end of a long drift. Middle English daunger meant "power, dominion" as well as "peril", and behind it stands Latin dominus, "lord, master": to be in danger was first to be in someone's power.

  2. 2
    nouncountable
    A specific thing or situation that is likely to cause harm.

    Smoking is a serious danger to your health.

    The report listed the main dangers facing low-lying coastal towns.

    UsageOften a danger to someone or something, and the dangers of a thing or activity.

    Similarhazard, threat, menace

    Note

    Its typical partner is to: a danger to health, or, in William Gladstone's Second Midlothian Speech of 1884, "a positive danger to the peace of Europe." Where the general state of peril is something you are in, this kind is something that faces you.

  3. 3
    nouncountable or uncountable
    The risk that an unpleasant or undesired outcome may come about, often in the phrases danger of and danger that.

    The company is in danger of losing its biggest customer to a cheaper rival.

    With rain forecast all day, there is a real danger that turnout will be low.

    UsageIn danger of takes a noun or an -ing form (in danger of losing); there is a danger that takes a whole clause.

    Similarrisk, possibility, chance

    Note

    Here the word is about an unwelcome outcome, not a threat to life or limb. Unlike the "peril" meaning, nobody need be hurt: a company in danger of losing a customer faces only a bad result, and a real danger of low turnout is simply a genuine risk of disappointment.

Practice

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Origin

It comes from Middle English daunger ('power, dominion, peril'), borrowed through Anglo-Norman and Old French dangier, an alteration of Old French dongier (changed partly by association with Latin damnum, 'damage'). This traces back to Vulgar Latin *dominārium ('authority, power') from Latin dominus ('lord, master'). It displaced the native Old English frēcennes.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

  • Danger comes from Middle English daunger, meaning power, dominion, or peril. en.wiktionary.org
  • The borrowing passed through Anglo-Norman and Old French dangier. en.wiktionary.org
  • Dangier is an alteration of dongier associated with Latin damnum, meaning damage. en.wiktionary.org
  • The French forms derive from reconstructed popular Latin *dominārium, denoting authority or power. fr.wiktionary.org
  • The ultimate Latin source is dominus, meaning lord or master, through dominium. en.wiktionary.org
  • Danger displaced native Old English frēcennes. en.wiktionary.org