PERIL
What does "PERIL" mean?
Serious and immediate danger.
Meanings
- Exposure to the risk of being harmed, injured, or destroyed. The climbers were in real peril as the storm closed in.
- A specific cause or source of danger. The voyage was beset by the perils of ice and fog. formal
- To expose to danger; to imperil. Reckless cuts periled the entire mission. archaic
Did you know?
- 'Peril', 'experiment', and 'expert' are cousins from the Latin root 'per-' (to try or risk): an expert is, etymologically, someone tested by danger.
Word origin
From Latin 'periculum' (a trial, attempt, danger), from the root 'per-' meaning to try or risk; the same root links 'peril' to 'experiment' and 'expert', all sharing the idea of testing through risk.
Remember it
PERIL hides 'PERI' as in 'perimeter' - danger waiting just past your edge.
A little poem
The ice groaned once beneath the careful boot.
He froze, and listened, and did not look down-
the safe shore was the same length either way.
tercet
What it teaches
Skill is not the absence of danger but familiarity with it; you learn most at the edge you respect.
Quick facts
What does PERIL mean?
Serious and immediate danger.
Is PERIL a valid word?
Yes — PERIL is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is PERIL?
PERIL has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does PERIL come from?
From Latin 'periculum' (a trial, attempt, danger), from the root 'per-' meaning to try or risk; the same root links 'peril' to 'experiment' and 'expert', all sharing the idea of testing through risk.
What can PERIL teach us?
Skill is not the absence of danger but familiarity with it; you learn most at the edge you respect.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.