English word jeopardize comes English jeopardy, which in turn comes from Old French jeu parti - a (fairly) divided game, i.e. a situation in a game where both sides have an equal chance of winning
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| jeu | Old French (fro) | Game |
| parti | Old French (fro) | Side. Left. Lost. Divided. |
| jeu parti | Old French (fro) | Evenly divided game - a game where the chances of win or loss are evenly balanced |
| jeopardy | English (en) | Danger of loss, harm, or failure. (transitive, archaic) To jeopardize; to endanger. |
| -ize | English (en) | Used to form verbs from nouns or adjectives, the verbs having the sense of "to make what is denoted by the noun/adjective". |
| jeopardize | English (en) | (US) To put in jeopardy, to threaten. |