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

Descendants

  • Haitian Creole: aza

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

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

References