precarious
Meaninggot by entreaty; uncertain
Common meaning: uncertain, unsafe (once granted only by asking)
- precto pray, entreatLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1439 · scan
- aradjective or noun ending: of, belonging to
- iousadjective ending: full of, marked by
Journey through time
- Latinprecor‘to pray, entreat’
- Englishprecarious‘uncertain, unsafe (once granted only by asking)’ · today
prec also in: praydeprecateimprecation
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin precor ‘to pray, entreat’.
Did you know (Latin precarius described…): our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry PRECARIOUS, p. 462 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Latin precari, "to…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry precor, p. 1439 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry PRECARIOUS, p. 462 · dictionary scan
Roots
- precor Latin “to pray, entreat”
Related words
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