{"id":4290,"date":"2026-01-10T04:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T04:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=4290"},"modified":"2026-01-10T04:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T04:35:17","slug":"adventures-in-etymology-perilous-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=4290","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Etymology &#8211; Perilous Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Perilous Experience\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-01-10T04:35:16+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M06S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we find what the word experience has to do with fear, peril and pirates.\n\n\n\nMeanings of experience [\/\u026ak\u02c8sp\u026a\u0259.\u0279\u026a\u0259ns] include:\n\n Event(s) of which one is cognizant.\n An activity which one has performed.\n A collection of e...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.3\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1982\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4290-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=4290-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"perilousexperiences.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we find what the word <strong>experience<\/strong> has to do with <strong>fear<\/strong>, <strong>peril<\/strong> and <strong>pirates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/blog\/perilousexperiences.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"300\" alt=\"Perilous Experiences\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Meanings of <strong>experience<\/strong> [\/\u026ak\u02c8sp\u026a\u0259.\u0279\u026a\u0259ns] include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Event(s) of which one is cognizant.<\/li>\n<li>An activity which one has performed.<\/li>\n<li>A collection of events and\/or activities from which an individual or group may gather knowledge, opinions, and skills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It comes from Middle English <em>exp\u0113rience<\/em> (observation; an event which has affected one; to test, try, learn), from Old French <em>esperience<\/em> (experiment, proof, experience), from Latin <em>experientia<\/em> (a trial, proof, experiment, experience), from <em>exper\u012br\u012b<\/em> (to try, put to the test, undertake, undergo), from <em>ex-<\/em> (out) and <em>per\u012br\u012b<\/em> (to go through), from PIE <em>*per-<\/em> (to attempt, try, risk) [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordsense.eu\/experience\/\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Words from the same roots include <strong>expert<\/strong>, <strong>experiment<\/strong>,  <strong>peril<\/strong> and <strong>fear<\/strong> in English, <strong>Gefahr<\/strong> (danger, risk, threat) in German, <strong>pericolo<\/strong> (peril, danger) in Italian, <strong>perygl<\/strong> (danger, peril, risk) in Welsh, <strong>experimentar<\/strong> (to experience, feel, experiment) in Spanish [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordsense.eu\/periculum\/#Latin\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<p>The English word <strong>pirate<\/strong> also comes from the same roots, via Old French <em>pirate<\/em>, Latin <em>p\u012br\u0101ta<\/em> (sailor, sea robber), and Ancient Greek <em>\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1\u03b1\u03c4\u03ae\u03c2<\/em> (peirat\u0113s &#8211; pirate, &#8220;one who attacks (ships)&#8221;), from <em>\u03c0\u03b5\u1fd6\u03c1\u03b1<\/em> (peira &#8211; trial, attempt, plot) [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordsense.eu\/pirate\/\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/uk\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd=_flow&amp;SESSION=aLjPfXL-vP_1gQ_U23Iz8_hSWLlhzLHPMFZrt32dIEfG8htoNFLYaPoWkv8&amp;dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8def8934b92a630e40b7fef61ab7e9fe63\">PayPal<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/omniglot\">Patreon<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/donations.htm\">contribute to Omniglot in other ways<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with <a href=\"https:\/\/blubrry.com\/services\/podcast-hosting\/?code=omniglot\">Blubrry Podcast Hosting<\/a>, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code <strong>omniglot<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/\">Omniglot Blog<\/a>, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/\">Celtiadur<\/a> blog.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Perilous Experience\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-01-10T04:35:16+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M06S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we find what the word experience has to do with fear, peril and pirates.\n\n\n\nMeanings of experience [\/\u026ak\u02c8sp\u026a\u0259.\u0279\u026a\u0259ns] include:\n\n Event(s) of which one is cognizant.\n An activity which one has performed.\n A collection of e...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.3\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1983\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4290-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=4290-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/perilousexperiences.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"perilousexperiences.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we find what the word experience has to do with fear, peril and pirates. Meanings of experience [\/\u026ak\u02c8sp\u026a\u0259.\u0279\u026a\u0259ns] include: Event(s) of which one is cognizant. An activity which one has performed. A collection of events and\/or activities from which an individual or group may gather knowledge, opinions, and skills. It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,97,20,24,12,4,50,58,11,109,1,59,28,7],"tags":[90,369,371,9,167,15,88,370,372,373,8,103],"class_list":["post-4290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures-in-etymology","category-ancient-greek-","category-english","category-german","category-italian","category-language","category-latin","category-middle-english","category-music","category-old-french-franceis","category-podcast","category-proto-indo-european","category-spanish","category-welsh","tag-etymology","tag-experience","tag-fear","tag-language","tag-linguistics","tag-music","tag-omniglot","tag-peril","tag-pirate","tag-pirates","tag-podcast","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4290"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4293,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4290\/revisions\/4293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}