perilously

the word 'perilously' is built upon the core latin noun periculum, meaning 'danger, risk, or an attempt'. the suffix -osus was added to form the latin adjective periculosus, which passed into old french as 'perillos' and then into middle english as 'perilous', meaning 'full of danger'. the english adverbial suffix -ly, of germanic origin, was then appended to create the modern adverb. thus, the word's literal construction follows a clear path from a noun denoting risk, to an adjective describing a state of being risky, and finally to an adverb describing the manner of an action done in a risky or alarmingly extreme way.

Structure: peril (danger) + ous (adjective suffix) + ly (adverb suffix) peril (from latin periculum, meaning 'danger, risk, trial'); ous (from latin -osus, a suffix forming adjectives meaning 'full of, characterized by'); ly (from old english -līce, an adverb-forming suffix).