Where does “precarious” come from?
Precarious derives from Latin precarius, formed with the suffix -arius from Latin prex, which traces to Proto-Indo-European preḱ- and ultimately pr̥ḱneh₂, roots relating to entreaty or asking.
precarious (English): Dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous;...
Definitions
- Dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous;...
Ancestry of “precarious”, step by step
precarious traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English carious
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | carious | Having caries decayed, rotten |
| 2 | French | carieux | carious |
| 3 | French | carie | decay uncountable, cavity countable process or result of bone or teeth being gradually decomposed |
| 4 | Latin | cariēs | decay, rot, rottenness, corruption |
| 5 | Latin | careō | to lack, be without. (usually with ablative), to be deprived of |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | kazēō | to lack |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱes-éh₁-ye-ti | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱes- | to cut off, separate; to cut up, to slaughter; to... |