Jeopardize

I’ve been thinking that the word jeopardize is actually derived from the word leopard receiving an –ize suffix to form a verb. There goes leopardize. That’s probably what makes it a powerful word.

As a foreigner to English, the word jeopardize comes very unique in my sense. The composition of the letters as well as the way the word is pronounced amazed me the first time I encountered it.

Foto pinjam dari alliswall.com

I’ve long been familiar with endanger to suggest the idea of bringing someone or something into danger. This is quite normal and requires no further investigation of the meaning as the verb is a lot like the noun. I can easily figure out what it implies by correlating the meaning of danger.

Jeopardize is different. I didn’t have the faintest idea of what it means when I first knew the word in a text. While I could guess based on the context in the sentence, I had but to look up in a dictionary to ascertain I got the correct meaning.

The discovery led to further amazement as I found imperil and jeopard that are synonymous with jeopardize. The latter word carries exactly the similar meaning and can therefore replace jeopardize.

I’m happy with this finding and keep thinking that both jeopard and jeopardize have somehow evolved from the word leopard into what is believed now as its meaning.

Some say a leopard is more dangerous than a lion. So whether what I’m guessing is accurate or not, make sure you avoid jeopardizing anything of your life or of your beloved’s. Arrrghhh!!!