hasard

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French hasard, from Old French hasart, from Old Spanish azar, from Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, flowers), named after a game of dice where the winning side of the die had a flower on it. Compare modern Spanish azar, Italian zara. The initial h- was originally purely graphic, but became aspirated by analogy with other non-Latin words. The final -d/-t is also excrescent, perhaps influenced by the suffix -ard.

Pronunciation

  • (aspirated h) IPA(key): /a.zaʁ/
  • Audio (Paris):(file)
  • Audio (France (Lyon)):(file)
  • Audio (France (Somain)):(file)

Noun

hasard m (plural hasards)

  1. (usually in the singular) (random) chance
    Synonym: raccroc
  2. a coincidence
  3. hazard
  4. (golf) hazard

Derived terms

Further reading

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French hasart, from Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, the dice).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhazard/, /ˈhazərd/

Noun

hasard

  1. hazard (dice game, often gambled on)
  2. (rare) An individual who plays hazard.
  3. (rare) A crafty individual.

Descendants

  • English: hazard

References

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French hasard, from Spanish azar, from Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, the dice).

Noun

hasard m (definite singular hasarden, indefinite plural hasarder, definite plural hasardene)

  1. gambling, game of chance
  2. a hazard, risk

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French hasard, from Spanish azar, from Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, the dice).

Noun

hasard m (definite singular hasarden, indefinite plural hasardar, definite plural hasardane)

  1. gambling, game of chance
  2. a hazard, risk

Derived terms

References

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from French hasard.

Noun

hasard c

  1. a game of chance (for example lottery, roulette, and dice games)
    Synonym: hasardspel
  2. a gamble (a risky venture)
    Synonym: vågspel
  3. chance (random occurrence)
    • 1922, Hjalmar Söderberg, Ödestimmen [The Hour of Destiny]‎[1], Albert Bonniers förlag, accessed at Litteraturbanken.se, courtesy of Göteborgs universitetsbibliotek, archived from the original on 1 October 2025:
      Det finns ingen hasard i historien – tro aldrig det! Ingen slump i historien!
      There is no chance in history—never believe that! No happenstance in history!

Declension

Declension of hasard
nominative genitive
singular indefinite hasard hasards
definite hasarden hasardens
plural indefinite
definite

Derived terms

  • spela hasard

References