Word of the Day

: June 12, 2015

jeopardy

noun JEP-er-dee

What It Means

1 : exposure to death, loss, or injury : danger

2 : the danger that an accused person is subjected to when on trial for a criminal offense

jeopardy in Context

Rather than risk placing his passengers in jeopardy, the pilot waited for the storm to pass before taking off.

"Unless they have already accumulated substantial wealth, retirees typically are anxious to know how much they can afford to spend without putting the latter end of their retirement years in financial jeopardy." - John Napolitano, Accounting Today, May 1, 2015

Did You Know?

Centuries ago, the Old French term jeuparti didn't mean "danger" but rather "an alternative" or, literally, "a divided game." That French expression was used for anything that represented an alternative viewpoint or gave two opposing viewpoints. Jeuparti passed into Anglo-French as juparti, and from there it was borrowed into Middle English and respelled jeopardie. At first, the English word was used to refer to the risks associated with alternative moves in the game of chess. Almost immediately, however, the term came to be used more generally in the "risk" or "danger" sense that it has today.