An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Gefahr

by Friedrich Kluge

Gefahr, feminine, ‘danger, risk, jeopardy,’ Modern High German only, for Middle High German vâre, Old High German fâra, feminine, ‘ambush, deceit, hazard, danger’; Anglo-Saxon fœ̂r, feminine, ‘ambush, unforeseen danger, fright,’ English fear, Old Saxon fâr, ‘ambush’; Gothic *fêra, ‘ambush,’ follows from férja, masculine, ‘waylayer.’ Scandinavian fâr, neuter, has a somewhat different meaning, ‘misfortune, distemper.’ Allied to the root fē̆́r, Aryan pē̆́r, which in Latin periculum, Greek πεῖρα, ‘trial, cunning, deception,’ furnishes cognate meanings.