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hazard

Hazard was first a dice game, played by crusaders and gamblers, and the meaning 'risk' grew out of the throw of the dice. It is usually traced through Spanish azar to Arabic az-zahr 'the die', but that word is missing from the classical dictionaries and the link has never been proved; French hasard went on to Italian azzardo, German Hasard and Russian azart, 'gambler's thrill'.

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The story you may have heard

Two neat stories get repeated: that the winning face of Arab dice bore a flower (zahr), and William of Tyre's claim that the game was named after a Syrian castle called Hasart, where crusaders played it. Neither has any good evidence.

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1100Arabic

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

hazard

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The road to English

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