different between crucial vs perilous

English

Etymology

1706, from French crucial, a medical term for ligaments of the knee (which cross each other), from Latin crux, crucis (“cross”) (English crux), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”).

The meaning “decisive, critical” is extended from a logical term, Instantias Crucis, adopted by Francis Bacon in his influential Novum Organum (1620); the notion is of cross fingerboard signposts at forking roads, thus a requirement to choose.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?u?.??l/
• Rhymes: -u???l

Adjective

crucial (comparative more crucial, superlative most crucial)

1. Essential or decisive for determining the outcome or future of something; extremely important; vital.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:important
2. (archaic) Cruciform or cruciate; cross-shaped.
3. (slang, especially Jamaican, Bermuda) Very good; excellent; particularly applied to reggae music.

Derived terms

• crucial experiment

Related terms

• cross
• crux

Translations

References

French

Etymology

From a root of Latin crux (“cross”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?y.sjal/

Adjective

crucial (feminine singular cruciale, masculine plural cruciaux, feminine plural cruciales)

1. cruciform
2. crucial, critical, vital

Further reading

• “crucial” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: cru?ci?al

Adjective

crucial m or f (plural cruciais, comparable)

1. crucial

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:crucial.

Romanian

Etymology

From French crucial

Adjective

crucial m or n (feminine singular crucial?, masculine plural cruciali, feminine and neuter plural cruciale)

1. pivotal

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From English crucial.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /k?u??jal/, [k?u??jal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /k?u?sjal/, [k?u?sjal]

Adjective

crucial (plural cruciales)

1. crucial

English

Alternative forms

• perelles (obsolete)
• perillous (archaic)
• perlous (obsolete)
• per'lous (poetic)

Etymology

From Middle English perilous, from Old French perilleus, from the noun peril, or from Latin per?cul?sus. Doublet of periculous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??.?.l?s/, /p??.l?.?s/

Adjective

perilous (comparative more perilous, superlative most perilous)

1. Dangerous, full of peril.

Derived terms

• perilously

Related terms

Translations

Middle English

Alternative forms

• perillous, perelous, perlious, pereilous, perlous, perylous, perylus, periluse

Etymology

From Old French perilleus, from Latin per?cul?sus; equivalent to peril +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?r(i)lu?s/, /?par(i)lu?s/

Adjective

perilous (plural and weak singular perilouse, superlative perilousest)

1. Full of danger or peril; dangerous, harmful, periculous:
   1. Fatal, mortal; potentially resulting in death.
   2. Scary, frightening; inducing horror and psychological damage.
   3. (Late Middle English) Religiously harmful or hurtful
   4. (Late Middle English) Unfortunate; experiencing bad luck.

Descendants

• English: perilous, parlous
• Scots: perilous (obsolete)

References

• “peril?us, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-15.