jeopardy
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 28, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n jeopardy • \\JEP-er-dee\\ • noun
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Jeopardy is defined as "exposure to or imminence of death, loss, or injury"; it is synonymous with danger. In legal contexts, jeopardy refers specifically to the danger that an accused person is subjected to when on trial for a criminal offense.
\n\n// Rather than risk placing passengers in jeopardy, the pilot waited for the storm to pass before taking off.
\n\n\n \n \n\n Examples:
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"As Dior rises to prominence with his groundbreaking, iconic imprint of beauty and influence, Chanel\u2019s reign as the world\u2019s most famous fashion designer is put into jeopardy." \u2014 Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 16 Nov. 2023
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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We'll start with the answer and you provide the question: A word meaning "danger" that inspired the title of a popular game show. Got it? If you buzzed in "what is jeopardy?" you are correct! Today\u2019s word dates back to at least the 1300s, but its Middle English form can make it hard to spot: it appears in the phrase "in jupartie" with a meaning very much akin to the word's meaning in the modern phrase "in jeopardy"\u2014that is, "in danger." The spellings of what we now render only as jeopardy were formerly myriad. The Oxford English Dictionary reports that between the late 14th and mid-17th centuries the word was spelled in a great variety of ways, among them ieupardyes (the spelling Chaucer used in The Canterbury Tales), iupertie, iupartye, ieoperdis, and juperti. Indeed, like the eponymous quiz show Jeopardy!, today\u2019s word has a long history; we\u2019d wager it has a long future, too.
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