Middle English Dictionary Entry
hasard n.
Entry Info
| Forms | hasard n. Also hassard, hazard, aserd. |
| Etymology | OF hasart, -ard, from Ar. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A game of chance played with dice; playing at hazard; table ~, a table on which hazard is played; leien to (setten at) ~, to risk (sth.), gamble (sth.) away; pleien at ~; (b) chek ~, an unlucky turn of events, misfortune.
Associated quotations
a
- (c1300) Havelok (LdMisc 108)2326 : Þer mouthe men se..Harping and piping, ful god won, Leyk of mine, of hasard ok.
- (1340) Ayenb.(Arun 57)171/23 : He hise heþ folliche y-spended..and al ylayd to an hazard [Vices & V.(2): y-sett at þe hasarde].
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Pard.(Manly-Rickert)C.609 : Alle the gretteste that were of that lond, Pleiynge atte hasard he hem fond.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Pard.(Manly-Rickert)C.624 : The kyng of Parthes..Sente hym a paire of dees of gold in scorn, For he hadde vsed hasard ther biforn.
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)2.836 : Gladnes of on is to another rage -- Adevaunte, hasard, and passage.
- a1425 *Medulla (Stnh A.1.10)50a/a : Pirgus: a powne of a ches or a table hasard.
- ?a1425(?a1350) Castleford Chron.(Göt Hist 740)21577 : Quare vse of armes amanges folk cesses, Licherie certes and sin encresses, fflaume of women, aserd, and tables.
- ?c1430(c1400) Wycl.Curates (Corp-C 296)152 : Þei fallen to nyse pleies at tables, chees, & hasard.
- (?a1439) Lydg.FP (Bod 263)5.1882 : The pley of Fortune lik hasard retournable, With sodeyn chaung of fals felicite.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)228 : Hasarde, play: Aleatura.
- a1450(a1338) Mannyng Chron.Pt.1 (Lamb 131)11393 : Somme pleide wyþ des & tables, & somme pleide at hasard fast, & lore & wonne wiþ chaunce of cast.
- c1460(?c1400) Beryn (Nthld 55)924 : Berinus..lovid wele the dise, And for to pley at hazard.
- a1475(?a1430) Lydg.Pilgr.(Vit C.13)11194 : I wyl nat spare To..pleyn at the merellys, Now at the dees, in my yong age, Bothe at hassard & passage.
- c1475(?a1430) Lydg.Pilgr.(Tbr A.7)18428 : To gete good is my laboure..At hasard and..devaunt.
b
- ?a1400 Mannyng Chron.Pt.1 (Petyt 511)5012 : Chek hasarde [Lamb: Hym fel þer a chek ful harde].
2.
(a) A player at hazard, gambler; (b) a trickster, rascal; (c) as surname.
Associated quotations
a
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)228 : Hasarde..: Aleator, aleo.
b
- a1475(1450) Scrope DSP (Bod 943)98/8 : A woman seide to him [Socrates]: 'Olde hasarde [DSPhilos.: olde dotarde], thi face is fulle foule.'
- c1450 Pilgr.LM (Cmb Ff.5.30)150 : That oother hand..is cleped Baret, treccherie, tricot, Hazard [F Hasart], and disceyuaunce.
c
- (1167) in Pipe R.Soc.11103 : Hugo Hasard.
- (1197) Feet Fines in Archaeol.Cant.1244 : Walteri Hassard.
- (1276) Hundred R.Tower 1111 : Johannes Hasard.
- (1304) Let.Bk.Lond.C (Gldh LetBk C)139 : William Hasard.
- (1388) Inquis.Miscel.(PRO)5.94 : [John, servant of John Kent..was killed on the bridge of] Hasardesmerssh.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- ?a1500 MS Hrl.7322 in Wenzel ME Lexicon (Hrl 7322)471 : Notandum quod verbum Domini comparatur ver speculo et non falso, quod anglice dicitur hagard [?read: hazard].
Note: A crux. Wenzl very speculatively associates the word with modern English 'boggard' (OED), alternatively suggesting that it is a word hitherto unknown to lexicographers. Very tentatively placed here by MED in sense 2.(b), with the modified gloss '?trickery, deception,' to which the Pilgr.LM quote may also belong.