c.1300, from Old French hasard, hasart (12c.) "game of chance played with dice," possibly from Spanish azar "an unfortunate card or throw at dice," which is said to be from Arabic az-zahr (for al-zahr) "the die." But this is doubtful because of the absence of zahr in classical Arabic dictionaries. Klein suggests Arabic yasara "he played at dice;" Arabic -s- regularly becomes Spanish -z-. The -d was added in French in confusion with the native suffix -ard. Sense evolved in French to "chances in gambling," then "chances in life." In English, sense of "chance of loss or harm, risk" first recorded 1540s.
