AHD adds:1167, from O.Fr. hasard "game of chance played with dice," possibly from Sp. azar "an unfortunate card or throw at dice," which is said to be from Arabic az-zahr (for al-zahr) "the die." But this is doubtful because of the absence of zahr in classical Arabic dictionaries. Klein suggests Ar. yasara "he played at dice;" Ar. -s- regularly becomes Sp. -z-. The -d was added in Fr. in confusion with the native suffix -ard. Sense of "chance of loss or harm, risk," first recorded 1548; the verb sense of "put something at stake in a game of chance" is from 1530. Hazardous in the sense of "perilous" is from 1618.
Contemporary usage: Clicking the hazard lights on an older Taurus is a crap shoot.NOUN: 1. A chance; an accident. 2. A chance of being injured or harmed; danger: Space travel is full of hazards. 3. A possible source of danger: a fire hazard. 4. Games A dice game similar to craps. 5. Sports An obstacle, such as a sand trap, found on a golf course.
The etymology of this word makes me wonder whether it was partially a souvenir of the crusades. The earliest attested date above is 1167, which falls between 2nd (1147–1148) and 3rd (1189–1192).
Does a history buff care to hazard a guess?
-gailr
