I’ve always found the word “jeopardize”, meaning “to expose to danger or risk” amusing. Despite its apparent similarity to jeopard, the word originates from the French jeu parti, which means a balanced game, and was originally associated with chess (“a game in which the chances of winning and losing are balanced”).
In 1870, this word was called “a foolish and unbearable word”, and “jeopard” was then preferred – it has been around since the 14th century (from 1582). In 1828, Noah Webster, the dictionary guy, declared “jeopardize” “a modern term used by respectable writers in America, but synonymous with ‘jeopard’ and therefore useless” webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/jeopardize. Nowadays, you hardly ever come across jeopard in that sense.
By the way, the word “hazard” also comes from a French game of dice (“game of chance played with dice”).
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 