Etymograph

English

dangerous

Dangerous comes from Old French dangereus ‘threatening, difficult’, from dangier ‘difficulty, danger’, ultimately from Latin dominium ‘ownership’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominium1‘ownership’
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*dominiarium1reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dangier1‘difficulty; danger’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dangereus1‘threatening, difficult’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500daungerous1‘difficult; fraught with danger’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1696dangerous1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English dangerous
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1696, Thomas Southerne, Oroonoko: A Tragedy […]: “If they incline to think you dangerous, / They…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominiumWiktionary, English dangerous‘ownership’
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*dominiariumWiktionary, English dangerousreconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dangierWiktionary, English dangerous‘difficulty; danger’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dangereusWiktionary, English dangerous‘threatening, difficult’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500daungerousWiktionary, English dangerous‘difficult; fraught with danger’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1696dangerousWiktionary, English dangerous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1696, Thomas Southerne, Oroonoko: A Tragedy […]: “If they incline to think you dangerous, / They…”

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Today it means

adj Full of danger.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dangerous”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin dominium / dangerous