▪ I. jeopardy, n.
(ˈdʒɛpədɪ)
Forms: α. 3 iuperti, 4 ieupartie, -tye, 4–5 iupartie, -tye, 5 ieperte, ioparte, -perte, 5–6 iupertie, ioperty, -partie, 6 iuberte, ioberty. β. 4 ieupardye, 4–6 iuperdy(e, 5 iupurdy, iepardye, ieberde, 5–6 iupardy(e, iubardie, -berdy, iopardie, -perdye, 6 ioberdie, ieoperde, -pardie, -berdye, -bardie, 7 jobardy, 7– jeopardy.
[ME. iuparti, etc., a. OF. iu parti, later ieu (geu) parti, lit. ‘divided play or game, even game’, hence ‘uncertain chance, uncertainty’, orig. a term of chess and similar games, in med.L. jocus partitus, Cat. joch partit, Sp. juego de partido. It has been suggested that the Eng. change of -parti to -pardy was partly influenced by association with F. perdre to lose, but it was evidently mainly phonetic, like the occasional change of p to b in jubertie, joberdie, jeobardie, etc.
Johnson says erroneously ‘a word not now in use’; it was in continuous use during the 18th c.]
† 1. Chess, etc. A problem. Obs.
The regular name for this down to 1500.
| [12.. MS. Cott. Cleop. B. ix. lf. 4 Les gius partiz numeement ke me vnt apris diuerse gent. 12.. MS. Royal 13 A xviij lf. 161 Icy comencent les iu partiez des Eschez.] |
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 666 But god wolde I had ones or twyes Y-kond [Skeat y-koud] and knowe the Ieupardyes That kowde the Greke Pictagoras, I shulde haue pleyde the bet at ches. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. xi. (MS. Digby 230) lf. 58 b/1 Of þe chesse þe pleie moste glorious,..þouȝ a man studied al his liue He shal ay finde diuerse fantasies Of wardes makinge and newe Iuparties. a 1500 MS. Ashmole 344 (Bodl.) lf. 18 b, Thys ys a Iupertie to do a man mate the. Ibid. 19 a, At v. draughtis shall this Iupertie be plaiede. |
† b. A device, trick, stratagem. Obs.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xiv. 421 He thoucht than on a Iuperdy, And girt his menȝhe halely Dicht thame in the presoners dray. c 1450 Holland Howlat 789 Thus iowkit with iuperdyss the iangland Ia. c 1480 Henryson Mor. Fab. (Maitl. Cl.) 16 In his minde hee kest The juperties, the wayis and the wile, By what meanes hee might this Cocke beguyle. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. iv. xiii, Be quhais wisdome and ilhand ieoperdis the Romanis wer stoppit..fra ony forthir conques on the Scottis. |
† 2. A position in a game, undertaking, etc. in which the chances of winning and losing hang in the balance; an even chance; an undecided state of affairs; uncertainty; chance.
| [c 1250 Bracton iv. i. §32 Nec potest [ballivus] transigere, nec pascisci, nec jocum partitum facere. 1292 Britton ii. xvii. §8 Mes ne mie en jeupartie de perdre ou de gayner, tut le voillent les parties.] c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 416 (465) For myn estat now lyth in Iupartye And eek myn emes lyf lyth in balaunce. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 200 Pompeie..A werre had in ieupartie Ayein the king of Ermenie. c 1450 Lydg. Secrees 305 A twix two [I] stood in Iupartye To what party my penne I shulde applye. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 173 He wist nocht weill giff thai war tayne or slayne Or chapyt haile be ony ieperte. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 83 And [it] were put in ieoperde, What man shoulde wynne that lady fre. 1597 Bacon Coulers Good & Evill v. Ess. (Arb.) 146 By imputing to all excellencie in compositions..a casualty or ieopardy. |
3. Risk of loss, harm, or death; peril, danger.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 916 For Troye is brought in swich a Iupartye That it to save is now no remedye. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 92 For which he schal in that degree Stonde of his lif in jeupartie. 1471 Marg. Paston in P. Lett. III. 30, I schuld send ȝow mony therefore, but I dar not put yt in joperte, ther be so many theves stereng. 1472 Presentm. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1888) 25 In payn of the jeberde þ{supt} may fall thar off. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. iii. 162 Thair lyfe is now in iuperty, thai rave. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. xv. 30 Why stonde we in ieoperdy every houre? 1537 Nottingham Rec. III. 375 He puttes the towne in grete danger and juberte. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. i. 60 The more he wrange, the faster was he wrapt And all to thencrease of his ieoberdee. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 696 If any yet be so fool-hardy, T'expose themselves to vain Jeopardy. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. xxii. 326 Under a tyrannical sway trade must be continually in jeopardy. 1805 Wordsw. Waggoner i. 131 As chance would have it, passing by I saw you in that jeopardy. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. vii. 439, I think..that if the colonists had been defeated, our liberties would have been for a time in considerable jeopardy. |
† b. A deed involving peril; a daring exploit.
| a 1300 Siriz 276 in Wright Anecd. Lit. (1844) 9 For I shal don a juperti, And a ferli maistri. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 145 Interludys, and iuperdyss That men assayit on mony viss. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. iv. xvi, Maist forsy and strang beistis be thair awin ieoperdyis, ar oft slane. 1816 Scott Ballad in Antiq. xl, Now here a knight that's stout and good May prove a jeopardie. |
▪ II. jeopardy, v. rare.
(ˈdʒɛpədɪ)
[f. prec. n.]
trans. = jeopard v. 1.
| 1460 Paston Lett. II. 87 Yf ye dar joperdie your suyrtie of c. marc I shall come and se you. 1836 Fraser's Mag. XIV. 272 He did wrong in jeopardying his well-earned histrionic fame. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xviii, She would have seen..how entirely her character was jeopardied [later ed. jeopardized]. |