dare [OE] This is a word with the deepest roots, related to forms in Greek and in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. It originally meant ‘to have the courage to do something’. By the late 16th century there also existed the sense ‘to challenge or defy someone’, which is the meaning behind daredevil [L18th], a contraction of ‘someone ready to dare the devil’. This sort of formation is also seen in cut- throat [M16th] and scarecrow [M16th].