Imperilled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. At risk of serious harm, loss, or destruction
2. In a situation where there is danger or threat to safety or stability
3. Facing potential danger, jeopardy, or adverse consequences

Etymology: "Imperilled" is the past tense and past participle of "imperil," so the interesting history belongs to the verb itself. "Imperil" is formed from the prefix "im-", a variant of "en-" meaning "in" or "into," attached to "peril." Peril came into English from Old French "peril," which descends from Latin "periculum," meaning trial, test, or danger, and that Latin noun is itself linked to the root behind "experience" and "experiment," so the same idea of testing and risk runs through both words. The verb was built in English by joining "im-" to that existing noun, putting something "into peril," which is why the word's core sense is literally to place someone or something in danger. The "-ed" ending in "imperilled" is the ordinary English past tense, while the doubled "l" is the British spelling convention that English usually follows with stressed or final-syllable "-l" verbs.

Synonyms: endangered, threatened, jeopardized

Antonyms: protected, safe