rizik

Rizik is a noun in several South Slavic languages meaning risk or hazard. In Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin, and Slovenian, rizik denotes the possibility of loss or harm and is used across contexts from finance and safety to everyday decision making. The term is generally neutral in tone and common in both formal and informal speech. In phrases it occurs with modifiers or in compounds, such as visok rizik (high risk) or smanjiti rizik (to reduce risk).

Etymology and relation to other languages: Rizik belongs to the wider family of European terms for risk. It is commonly treated as a loanword ultimately linked to the same international root as Risiko or Risico, transmitted into South Slavic languages through contact with Germanic or other European languages during the modern period. The exact route and date vary by language.

Usage notes: Beyond its everyday sense, rizik also appears as a surname and, less commonly, as a given name in some Balkan communities. As a surname it functions primarily as an identifier rather than conveying a separate meaning.

See also: risk.