Where does “haphazard” come from?
Haphazard derives from English hap combined with hazard, which comes from Old French hasart, ultimately traced to Arabic origins related to chance and fortune in gaming contexts.
haphazard (English): Random; chaotic; incomplete; not thorough,...
Definitions
- Random; chaotic; incomplete; not thorough,...
Ancestry of “haphazard”, step by step
haphazard traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English hazard
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | hazard | The chance of suffering harm; danger, peril, risk... |
| 2 | Middle English | hasard | hazard; An individual who plays hazard; A crafty... |
| 3 | Old French | hasart | hazard; a score of six in a game of hazard; risk;... |
| 4 | Arabic | زهر | to shine, to be radiant, to give light; flowers;... |
| 5 | Arabic | ه | him, his, it, its; AH; Banū Ṭayyiʾ form of أَ |
| 6 | Arabic | كَهْرَبَاء | electricity |
| 7 | Persian | کهربا | amber |
| 8 | Persian | کاه | chaff; straw; hay |
| 9 | Persian | کاستن | to decrease |
| 10 | Proto-Iranian | kas- | to be small, diminish, lessen |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷeḱ- | to see; to look |