Etymograph

English

precarious

Precarious comes from Latin precārius ‘begged for, obtained by entreaty’, from prex ‘prayer’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- ‘to request, ask’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preḱ-‘to request, ask’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*preksreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprex‘prayer’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprecārius‘begged for, obtained by entreaty’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1897precarious

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preḱ-‘to request, ask’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*preksreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprex‘prayer’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprecārius‘begged for, obtained by entreaty’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1897precarious

Earliest quotation: 1897, Winston Churchill: “One morning I had been driven to the precarious…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- ‘to request, ask’

arrogant, arrogance, derogatory, prerogative, postulate, derogation, 26 more

through Latin prex ‘prayer’

prayer, pray, deprecation, 10 more

Today it means

adj Dangerously insecure or unstable; perilous.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- / precarious

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