'Peril' is the risk of putting yourself to the test — from Latin 'periri' (to try). Same root as 'experiment.'
Serious and immediate danger; exposure to the risk of being harmed or destroyed.
From Old French 'peril' (danger, risk), from Latin 'perīculum' (a trial, an experiment, a test, and by extension danger, risk), from the root 'perīrī' (to try, to attempt, to experience), related to 'experīrī' (to try out) — the source of 'experience' and 'experiment.' The semantic chain is revealing: to try something is to expose yourself to risk. The original meaning was not
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