daredevil
a person who enjoys taking risks
TRANSLATION
daredevil = der Draufgänger --- GOOGLE INDEX daredevil: approximately 20,400,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
A French DAREDEVIL who has scaled some of the world's tallest buildings conquered Cuba's famous Habana Libre hotel on Monday without ropes or a safety net — climbing to the top in about half an hour as hundreds of awed onlookers gasped and cheered from the streets below.
(BusinessWeek magazine)
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DAREDEVIL skydiver Felix Baumgartner breaks records
(BBC News headline)
(BusinessWeek magazine)
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DAREDEVIL skydiver Felix Baumgartner breaks records
(BBC News headline)
Did you
know?
daredevil
noun
- a person who does dangerous things and takes risks
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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Daredevil is a compound noun comprised of the verb "dare" (to be brave) and the noun "devil" (an evil, powerful force). The devil in daredevil may refer to the person being described or it may be used in the sense of someone who is brave enough to dare the devil.
Dare stems from the Old English durran meaning "to brave danger, to be courageous." Devil can also be traced back to Old English in the word "deofol," meaning "evil spirit, false god, diabolical person." Deofol in turn stemmed from the Late Latin diabolus, which is also the source of the Italian diavolo, French diable and Spanish diablo. The German Teufel is from the Old High German tiufal, from Latin via the Gothic diabaulus.
The Late Latin diabolus is from the Ecclesiastical Greek diabolos, which in Jewish and Christian usage referred to the Devil or Satan. In general use it meant an "accuser or slanderer." Diabolos further derived from diaballein (to slander, attack) and literally meant to "throw across" (dia = across, through + ballein = to throw).
In biblical sources the Hebrew term satan describes an antagonistic role. It is not the name of a particular character. Although Hebrew storytellers as early as the sixth century B.C.E. occasionally introduced a supernatural character whom they called the satan, what they meant was any one of the angels sent by God for the specific purpose of blocking or obstructing human activity.
(adapted from the Online Etymology Dictionary)
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SYNONYMS
thrill-seeker, adventurer, hot dog, risk-taker, show-off, stuntman
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation:
"You have to be a daredevil to ride a bicycle in some cities."
noun
- a person who does dangerous things and takes risks
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Daredevil is a compound noun comprised of the verb "dare" (to be brave) and the noun "devil" (an evil, powerful force). The devil in daredevil may refer to the person being described or it may be used in the sense of someone who is brave enough to dare the devil.
Dare stems from the Old English durran meaning "to brave danger, to be courageous." Devil can also be traced back to Old English in the word "deofol," meaning "evil spirit, false god, diabolical person." Deofol in turn stemmed from the Late Latin diabolus, which is also the source of the Italian diavolo, French diable and Spanish diablo. The German Teufel is from the Old High German tiufal, from Latin via the Gothic diabaulus.
The Late Latin diabolus is from the Ecclesiastical Greek diabolos, which in Jewish and Christian usage referred to the Devil or Satan. In general use it meant an "accuser or slanderer." Diabolos further derived from diaballein (to slander, attack) and literally meant to "throw across" (dia = across, through + ballein = to throw).
In biblical sources the Hebrew term satan describes an antagonistic role. It is not the name of a particular character. Although Hebrew storytellers as early as the sixth century B.C.E. occasionally introduced a supernatural character whom they called the satan, what they meant was any one of the angels sent by God for the specific purpose of blocking or obstructing human activity.
(adapted from the Online Etymology Dictionary)
---
SYNONYMS
thrill-seeker, adventurer, hot dog, risk-taker, show-off, stuntman
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation:
"You have to be a daredevil to ride a bicycle in some cities."
