dangerous

the word "dangerous" is a middle english formation that entered english from anglo-norman french. its core component, "danger", originally derived from the latin 'dominium' (lordship, power), which evolved in vulgar latin to 'dominiarium' and into old french as 'dangier', initially signifying the power of a lord or master, hence the power to inflict harm. by the late 13th century, "danger" in english had shifted to mean "liability to exposure to harm, peril". the suffix "-ous", of latin origin via french, meaning "full of" or "characterized by", was then appended to create the adjective "dangerous", literally meaning "full of peril" or "characterized by risk". this semantic evolution from a state of being under someone's power to the modern sense of inherent risk illustrates a classic broadening from a specific social context to a general condition of hazard.

Structure: danger (noun) + ous (adjective-forming suffix) danger: from old french 'dangier', meaning "power, dominion, peril", ultimately from latin 'dominium', meaning "lordship, power". ous: a suffix forming adjectives, from latin '-osus', meaning "full of, prone to".