Endangerment

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The action of placing an individual or entity in hazardous scenarios leading to potential harm
2. The state of being subjected to situations that may expose someone or something to damage or risk
3. The condition of being in jeopardy from threats that can cause injury or harm to a person or an organism

Etymology: "Endangerment" is a plain construction: the verb "endanger" with the suffix "-ment" attached. "Endanger" itself was formed in English from "danger" with the prefix "en-", meaning "to put into danger." The suffix traces back through Old French "-ment" to Latin "-mentum," a noun-forming ending that turned verbs into names for an action or its result, so "endangerment" names the act of putting someone or something into danger. The suffix is far older than its Latin form suggests. Its ancestry goes back to Proto-Indo-European, the reconstructed ancestor of most European and many Asian languages, and it passed into Italic and then Latin before English inherited it through Old French in the Middle English period. Because of this, English has hundreds of similar pairs, such as "treatment" and "judgment," which follow the same pattern.

Synonyms: risk, peril, hazard, jeopardy, threat

Antonyms: safety, security, protection, safeguarding, defense