Explain the word adventure

  • Definition & Examples
  • When & How to Write an Adventure
  • Quiz

I. What is Adventure?

Adventure (pronounced ad-ven-cher) was originally a Middle English word derived from the Old French aventure meaning “destiny,” “fate,” or “chance event.” Today, we define adventure as a remarkable or unexpected journey, experience, or event that a person participates in as a result of chance. This last detail, a result of chance, is a key element of adventure; the stories usually involve a character who is brought to the adventure by chance, and chance usually plays a large role in the episodes of the story. Also, adventures usually includes dangerous situations, narrow escapes, problems to be solved through intelligence and skill, exotic people and places, and brave deeds.

II. Example of Adventure

The following short passage might be found in a piece of adventure:

The young deckhand could see the approaching island, palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze, sandy shores littered with driftwood, tropical birds singing in the hot Caribbean sun—and somewhere, deep in the jungle, buried somewhere, was the treasure he had been reading about since he was a young boy. And now, he was going to part of the team to discover it and take it back home to save his nation’s people.

The above passage sets up the action that is about to come for the protagonist—a quest to discover a treasure. It is clear from this selection that the deckhand has traveled far and for a long time to reach this island; whether or not the trip was worth it remains a mystery for the reader to enjoy discovering.

III. Types of Adventure

There are many types of adventure but their meanings are obvious.  You could see most of them by exploring Netflix—types such as fantasy adventure, science-fiction adventure, supernatural adventure, and historical adventure.

IV. Importance of Adventure

Adventure stories have been popular since the earliest forms of literary fiction. For instance, one of the oldest pieces of fiction in English is an adventure written during the Middle Ages—Beowulf.  In fact, most medieval romances, such as the King Arthur stories, consisted of a series of adventures.

Adventures are important to humanity in a couple of ways. They are a form of “the hero’s journey” which, according to theorist Joseph Campbell is a universal story about the psychological growth of human beings.  Which is probably why adventures are usually stories of self-discovery for the protagonist.  Mythological stories are also usually adventures and as we have all heard, mythology is the way ancient cultures explained their world and their beliefs.  Finally, it is a form of escapist literature—works that allow the reader to escape everyday life to enjoy strange faraway lands and wild stories of mystery and discovery; in other words, adventure is food for the imagination, one of our most important forms of intelligence.

V. Examples of Adventure in Literature

Example 1

Two of Mark Twain’s most celebrated works are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both stories are the adventures of Tom and Huck, two young boys growing up on the Mississippi River in the late 1800s. Below is a short passage that captures Tom’s thoughts in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer:

What if he turned his back, now, and disappeared mysteriously? What if he went away — ever so far away, into unknown countries beyond the seas — and never came back any more!

Tom Sawyer is a fairly normal boy while Huck Finn, the son of the town drunk, is more of a drifter and often the driver of the adventures. The thoughts reflect the thinking of many if not all little boys, which shows us why adventure stories are so popular; most of us hunger for adventure when we are children—and most adults hunger to feel what it is like to be a child again.

Example 2

Gulliver’s Travels is a satirical adventure novel by author Jonathan Swift. In this classic of English literature, a man named Gulliver is shipwrecked on a strange island, and from then on encounters many unusual people, places, and things. Swift’s adventure story is unusual, however, because it satirizes many elements of a traditional adventure story and parodies “traveler’s tales,” which were popular during Swift’s lifetime in the 1700’s. Below is a passage that expresses Gulliver’s observations upon reaching a new land:

I did not discover any good effects they produced; but on the contrary, I never knew a soil so unhappily cultivated, houses so ill contrived and so ruinous, or a people whose countenances and habit expressed so much misery and want.

Swift’s novel is a commentary on society, politics, religion, morality, and other social topics. In the above passage, Swift actually makes fun of a traditional adventure story by providing a detailed description of a miserable and unimpressive place. Some of Gulliver’s travels lead him to interesting and awing discoveries, while others lead to boring and disappointing discoveries.

VI. Examples of Adventure in Pop Culture

Example 1

Hook is a fantasy adventure movie based on the beloved fairy tale and adventure story Peter Pan.  In the film (not in the original story) Peter is a middle-aged workaholic who overlooks his family. One night, the villainous pirate Captain Hook kidnaps his children—because Peter is actually the grown up Peter Pan, but he doesn’t remember his life in Neverland. He returns to Neverland to get his children back, and goes on a wild adventure. After rejoining the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell, Peter resumes his identity as the hero Peter Pan, and confronts Captain Hook.

Hook (5/8) Movie CLIP — Peter Confronts Hook (1991) HD

Peter and his Lost Boys face Captain Hook and his crew in an important battle in Neverland’s history. It is what Peter’s whole adventure has been leading to and what the audience has been waiting for throughout the story.

Example 2

Treasure Planet is an animated adaptation of the famous adventure novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the film, the young protagonist Jim Hawkins sets out on a quest to find the mysterious treasure planet, which legend claims is home to the infamous Captain Flint’s vast collection of hidden treasure.

Treasure planet — trailer HD HQ

Adventure stories can be changed to take place in any time or location. The classic story of Treasure Island is reset in the future, with flying ships and strange aliens, robots and interstellar travel; it achieves the same feelings as Treasure Island but in a new and exciting way.

VII. Related Terms

Fantasy

Fantasy a genre of fiction that concentrates on imaginary elements (the fantastic). This can mean magic, the supernatural, alternate worlds, superheroes, monsters, fairies, magical creatures, and mythological heroes. Many adventure stories involve elements of fantasy, but not all fantasy stories are necessarily adventure stories.

Adventure Fiction

Adventure fiction is a genre of literature that features stories of adventure, such as world travel, difficult quests, voyages of discovery, and other journeys. They might involve things like pirates and buried treasure, the search for a secret place or object, or a quest or expedition whose success is crucial for personal or societal reasons.

VIII. Conclusion

In conclusion, adventure allows the audience to escape into exciting stories about faraway places, long hidden secrets, and voyages of discovery. It is an age-old genre that has been popular among all ages since the beginning of literature because human beings are born with imaginations—perhaps our most unique quality among all animals!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky.[1] Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sports. Adventures are often undertaken to create psychological arousal or in order to achieve a greater goal, such as the pursuit of knowledge that can only be obtained by such activities.

Motivation[edit]

Adventurous experiences create psychological arousal,[2] which can be interpreted as negative (e.g. fear) or positive (e.g. flow). For some people, adventure becomes a major pursuit in and of itself. According to adventurer André Malraux, in his Man’s Fate (1933), «If a man is not ready to risk his life, where is his dignity?»

Similarly, Helen Keller stated that «Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.»[3]

Outdoor adventurous activities are typically undertaken for the purposes of recreation or excitement: examples are adventure racing and adventure tourism. Adventurous activities can also lead to gains in knowledge, such as those undertaken by explorers and pioneers – the British adventurer Jason Lewis, for example, uses adventures to draw global sustainability lessons from living within finite environmental constraints on expeditions to share with schoolchildren. Adventure education intentionally uses challenging experiences for learning.

Author Jon Levy suggests that an experience should meet several criteria to be considered an adventure:[4]

  1. Be remarkable—that is, worth talking about
  2. Involve adversity or perceived risk
  3. Bring about personal growth.

Mythology and fiction[edit]

Some of the oldest and most widespread stories in the world are stories of adventure, such as Homer’s Odyssey.[5][6][7]

The knight errant was the form the «adventure seeker» character took in the Late Middle Ages.

Adventure fiction exhibits these «protagonist on adventurous journey» characteristics, as do many popular feature films, such as Star Wars[8] and Raiders of the Lost Ark.[9]

Outdoors[edit]

Adventure books may have the theme of the hero or main character going to face the wilderness or Mother Nature. Examples include books such as Hatchet or My Side of the Mountain. These books are less about «questing», such as in mythology or other adventure novels, but more about surviving on their own, living off the land, gaining new experiences, and becoming closer to the natural world.

Questing[edit]

Many adventures are based on the idea of a quest: the hero goes off in pursuit of a reward, whether it be a skill, prize, treasure, or perhaps the safety of a person. On the way, the hero must overcome various obstacles to obtain their reward.

Video games[edit]

In video game culture, an adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle solving.[10] The genre’s focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media, literature and film, encompassing a wide variety of literary genres. Many adventure games (text and graphic) are designed for a single player, since this emphasis on story and character makes multi-player design difficult.[11]

Nonfiction works[edit]

From ancient times, travelers and explorers have written about their adventures.[12] Journals which became best-sellers in their day were written, such as Marco Polo’s journal The Travels of Marco Polo or Mark Twain’s Roughing It. Others were personal journals, only later published, such as the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark or Captain James Cook’s journals. There are also books written by those not directly a part of the adventure in question, such as The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe or books written by those participating in the adventure but in a format other than that of a journal, such as Conquistadors of the Useless by Lionel Terray. Documentaries often use the theme of adventure as well.

Adventure sports[edit]

There are many sports classified as adventure sports, due to their inherent danger and excitement. Some of these include mountain climbing, skydiving, or other extreme sports.

See also[edit]

  • Adventure film
  • Adventure playground
  • Adventure travel
  • Exploration
  • List of genres
  • Sports
  • Tourism
  • Travel

References[edit]

  1. ^ «Adventure». dictionary.com. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  2. ^ Gomà-i-Freixanet, M (2004). «Sensation Seeking and Participation in Physical Risk Sports». On the psychobiology of personality. Elsevier. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-08-044209-9.
  3. ^ Keller, Helen (1957). The Open Door. Garden City, N.Y. Doubleday.
  4. ^ Snow, Shane (2 December 2016). «The Science of the Perfect Night Out». GQ. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  5. ^ Mansbach, Adam (12 February 2010). «Odysseus Remixed». The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022.
  6. ^ Jenkyns, Richard (22 December 1996). «Heroic Enterprise – (Book review: The Odyssey translated by Robert Fagles)». nytimes.com. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  7. ^ Zweig, Paul (1999). The adventurer. Akadine Press. ISBN 1-888173-72-6. OCLC 61858818.
  8. ^ Canby, Vincent (26 May 1977). «A Trip to a Far Galaxy That’s Fun and Funny». The New York Times.
  9. ^ Canby, Vincent (12 June 1981). «Movie Review: Raiders of the Lost Ark». The New York Times.
  10. ^ Adams, Ernest (29 December 1999). «The Designer’s Notebook: Three Problems for Interactive Storytellers». Gamasutra. p. 43. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  11. ^ Hitchens, Joe (2002). «Special Issues in Multi player Game Design». In Laramée, François-Dominic (ed.). Game Design Perspectives. Charles River Media. p. 258. ISBN 1584500905.
  12. ^ «16 Famous Explorers and Their Incredible Stories». The Art of Travel: Wander, Explore, Discover. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2021.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adventure.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Adventure.

  • Martin Feeney Going on a journey: Life in Year 10
  • Website of the Research Unit «Philology of Adventure»: ongoing research project on the literary history of the adventure pattern
  • What is an adventure? A definition of «adventure», «hero» and «epic» with an illustration of the hero’s journey.
  • Wikivoyage

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An adventure is something exciting that happens to someone. An adventure can be a made-up story, or it can be something that happens in real life.

People often like stories about a person or a group of people who go off and have an adventure. There is often some danger in the story. Enid Blyton and Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote stories about people who have exciting adventures. Harry Potter has lots of adventures: he meets strange people and gets into lots of dangerous situations.

People in real life like to have adventures. They may be explorers who like to go to far-away places where no one has ever been before.

Adventure sports are sports that are exciting and can be rather dangerous. Skydiving, gliding and rock climbing are adventure sports.

An adventure playground is a playground for children where they can climb, swing and jump on things. They have been made by adults for children to use and are normally quite safe.

An adventurer is someone who goes on adventures or does things that are risky.

Space travel is an example of a modern adventure.

An adventure game is a video game about adventures.

The word venture is a short form of «adventure». A «business venture» is a business project in which there is a lot of risk. «Venture» can also be a verb: «They ventured out into the storm».

[change | change source]

  • Action movie

Noun



The field trip was an adventure for the students.



He told us about his camping adventures.



They were looking for adventure.

Verb



adventured all his savings in a very risky investment scheme



if I had to adventure a guess, I’d say she’s about 35

Recent Examples on the Web



This cult classic, which centers around the themes of friendship and adventure, was directed by a young Steven Spielberg and starred an even younger Josh Brolin and Ke Huy Quan.


Brittany Natale, Men’s Health, 11 Apr. 2023





The action adventure is the follow-up to last year’s Super Bowl halftime doc Halftime, as well as the singer’s return to rom-coms, Shotgun Wedding.


Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 10 Apr. 2023





Those looking for a more relaxing vibe can enjoy the park’s Transportainment River System that combines three rivers into an endless floating adventure.


Gabi De La Rosa, Chron, 10 Apr. 2023





Players of the popular video game will get a chance to relive Mario’s adventure in Mushroom Kingdom.


Selena Barrientos, Good Housekeeping, 8 Apr. 2023





Colorful adventure is a bit more violent than the games.


Common Sense Media, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2023





The other shoe—the Chillos Morel—has the same design on the straps as the Z/1 Morel does, but is a slide sandal better suited for picnics, the beach, the pool, the gym, and/or hanging out in the yard than rough-and-tumble adventures.


Micki Wagner, Popular Mechanics, 7 Apr. 2023





This inauspicious start didn’t scare me off from a southern Dallas County birding adventure with two expert wanderers of the Trinity River corridor.


Sharon Grigsby, Dallas News, 7 Apr. 2023





Rime of the Frost Maiden, which was a 2020 adventure.


Geek’s Guide To The Galaxy, WIRED, 7 Apr. 2023




Prince Philip, who died in April 2021 at age 99, set up the program in 1956 to foster young peoples’ adventuring spirit and resourcefulness inspired by the founder and head of his Scottish school, Gordonstoun.


Simon Perry, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2023





Where to stay: Enchantment Resort serves as the ideal base camp for exploration and adventuring with access to more than 400 miles of scenic hiking and biking trails.


James Barrett, Redbook, 14 Mar. 2023





Perfect for full-throttle travelers who like to retire somewhere plush after adventuring, The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe is an ideal slope-side home base with direct access to Northstar California and a posh spa.


Lindsay Cohn, Travel + Leisure, 4 Mar. 2023





March 11, noon. P’elículas de Español:’ Collection of Spanish language films that take you through life’s ups and downs, adventures big and small.


The Courier-Journal, 1 Mar. 2023





The Forbidden Forest, Hogsmeade and much more are all available to adventure in.


Erik Kain, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2023





But for those less inclined to adventure, the resort is nothing short of luxurious.


Alesandra Dubin, Town & Country, 30 Jan. 2023





The North Face has equipped explorers since 1966 and has continued to prove itself a quality brand tailored towards those who love to adventure.


al, 18 Jan. 2023





All while leaving your hands free to adventure safely and create like no one else.


Joe Jackson, Outside Online, 10 Nov. 2022



See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘adventure.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ədˈvɛnt͡ʃɚ/, /ædˈvɛnt͡ʃɚ/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ədˈvɛnt͡ʃə/
  • Hyphenation: ad‧ven‧ture

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English aventure, aunter, anter, from Old French aventure, from Late Latin adventurus, from Latin advenire, adventum (to arrive), which in the Romance languages took the sense of «to happen, befall» (see also advene).

Noun[edit]

adventure (countable and uncountable, plural adventures)

  1. The encountering of risks; a bold undertaking, in which dangers are likely to be encountered, and the issue is staked upon unforeseen events; a daring feat.
  2. A remarkable occurrence; a striking event.

    A life full of adventures.

  3. A mercantile or speculative enterprise of hazard; a venture; a shipment by a merchant on his own account.
  4. (uncountable) A feeling of desire for new and exciting things.

    his sense of adventure

  5. (video games) A text adventure or an adventure game.
    • 1984 May, “Spyplane”, in Crash[1], number 4, (review):

      The first thing to strike me about Spyplane was that it is more like a verbal simulation than an adventure.

    • 1988 May, Mike Gerrard, “The Guild of Thieves [review]”, in Your Sinclair[2], number 29, archived from the original on 26 May 2013:

      To sum up, I think this is definitely one of the best adventures around for the Spectrum now, along with Gnome Ranger[…]

    • 1992 October, Horsfield, Larry, “The SU Guide to Playing and Writing Adventure Games”, in Sinclair User, number 128:

      Before you sit down in front of your Speccy to play an adventure, equip yourself with a pencil, eraser and plenty of paper. This so that you may draw a ‘map’ of the adventure as you move around.

  6. (obsolete) That which happens by chance; hazard; hap.
  7. (obsolete) Chance of danger or loss.
  8. (obsolete) Risk; danger; peril.
    • 1895, Lord Berners (translator), The Chronicles of Froissart
      He was in great adventure of his life.
Synonyms[edit]
  • (that which happens by chance): fortune, hazard, luck; see also Thesaurus:luck
  • (chance of danger or loss): hazard
  • (risk): jeopardy; see also Thesaurus:danger
Antonyms[edit]

(desire for new and exciting things): abstention

Derived terms[edit]
  • action adventure
  • adventure education
  • adventure playground
  • adventure therapy
  • at adventure
  • at all adventures
  • bill of adventure
  • choose your own adventure
  • choose-your-own-adventure
  • gross adventure
  • high adventure
[edit]
  • advent
  • advene
Translations[edit]

encountering of risks

  • Albanian: aventurë (sq) f
  • Arabic: مُغَامَرَة‎ f (muḡāmara)
    Hijazi Arabic: مُغامرة‎ f (muḡāmara)
  • Armenian: արկածախնդիր (hy) (arkacaxndir), արկած (hy) (arkac), ավանտուրա (avantura), ավանտյուրա (hy) (avantyura), ադվենչիր (advenčʿir) (slang, vulgar, but not transliterated)
  • Azerbaijani: avantüra, macəra (az)
  • Bashkir: мажара (majara)
  • Basque: abentura
  • Belarusian: аванту́ра f (avantúra), прыго́да f (pryhóda)
  • Bulgarian: авантю́ра (bg) f (avantjúra), приключе́ние (bg) n (priključénie), похожде́ние (bg) n (pohoždénie)
  • Catalan: aventura (ca) f
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 冒險冒险 (zh) (màoxiǎn)
  • Crimean Tatar: avantüra
  • Czech: dobrodružství (cs) n
  • Dutch: avontuur (nl) n
  • Esperanto: aventuro
  • Estonian: seiklus
  • Finnish: seikkailu (fi)
  • French: aventure (fr) f
  • Galician: aventura f
  • Georgian: თავგადასავალი (tavgadasavali)
  • German: Abenteuer (de) n, Wagnis (de) n
  • Hawaiian: hoʻopīhoihoi
  • Hebrew: הַרְפַּתְקָה (he) f (harpatká)
  • Hungarian: kaland (hu)
  • Indonesian: petualangan (id)
  • Irish: eachtra (ga) f
  • Italian: avventura (it) f, peripezia (it) f
  • Japanese: 冒険 (ja) (ぼうけん, bōken)
  • Khmer: ការដើរផ្សងព្រេង (daə phsɑɑng preing)
  • Korean: 모험(冒險) (ko) (moheom)
  • Latin: periculum (la) n, discrimen (la) n
  • Latvian: piedzīvojums m
  • Lithuanian: nuotykis m
  • Macedonian: авантура f (avantura)
  • Malay: pengembaraan
  • Malayalam: സാഹസം (ml) (sāhasaṃ)
  • Maori: rāwekeweke, mahi mātātoa
  • Mirandese: abintura f
  • Mongolian:
    Cyrillic: адал явдал (adal javdal), аванту́ра f
  • Nahuatl: tetzauhyōtl
  • Old English: belimp n
  • Persian: ماجرا (fa) (mâjarâ)
  • Polish: przygoda (pl) f, awantura (pl) f
  • Portuguese: aventura (pt) f
  • Romanian: aventură (ro) f
  • Russian: авантю́ра (ru) f (avantjúra), приключе́ние (ru) n (priključénije), похожде́ние (ru) n (poxoždénije)
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: пустоло̀вина f
    Roman: pustolòvina (sh) f, avantúra (sh) f
  • Slovak: dobrodružstvo n
  • Slovene: pustolovščina f
  • Spanish: aventura (es) f
  • Swedish: äventyr (sv) n
  • Tagalog: pakikipagsapalaran
  • Tajik: моҷаро (mojaro)
  • Tamil: please add this translation if you can
  • Thai: การผจญภัย (th) (gaan-pà-jon-pai), การเสี่ยงภัย
  • Turkish: avantür (tr), macera (tr)
  • Ukrainian: авантю́ра (uk) f (avantjúra), приго́да f (pryhóda)
  • Uzbek: sarguzasht (uz), mojaro (uz)
  • Vietnamese: mạo hiểm (vi)
  • Volapük: ventür (vo)
  • Walloon: avirete (wa) f
  • Welsh: antur (cy) f, anturiau (cy) f pl
  • Yiddish: אַוואַנטורע‎ f (avanture)

mercantile or speculative enterprise of hazard

  • Arabic: مُجَازَفَة‎ f (mujāzafa), مُغَامَرَة‎ f (muḡāmara)
  • Belarusian: аванту́ра f (avantúra)
  • Bulgarian: авантю́ра (bg) f (avantjúra)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 投機投机 (zh) (tóujī)
  • Crimean Tatar: avantüra
  • Dutch: risico (nl) n, avontuur (nl) n
  • Estonian: seiklus
  • Finnish: seikkailu (fi)
  • French: aventure (fr) f
  • Italian: rischio (it) m, speculazione (it) f
  • Japanese: 投機 (ja) (とうき, tōki)
  • Korean: 투기(投機) (ko) (tugi)
  • Latin: periculum (la) n, discrimen (la) n
  • Russian: авантю́ра (ru) f (avantjúra)
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: аванту́ра f
    Roman: avantúra (sh) f
  • Ukrainian: авантю́ра (uk) f (avantjúra)
  • Volapük: ventür (vo)

that which happens without design

  • Afrikaans: avontuur
  • Albanian: aventurë (sq)
  • Arabic: مُجَازَفَة‎ f (mujāzafa)
  • Basque: abentura
  • Bulgarian: авантю́ра (bg) f (avantjúra), приключе́ние (bg) n (priključénie)
  • Catalan: aventura (ca) f
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 冒險冒险 (zh) (màoxiǎn)
  • Dutch: avontuur (nl) n
  • Estonian: seiklus
  • Finnish: sattuma (fi)
  • French: aventure (fr) f
  • German: Abenteuer (de) n
    Middle High German: aventiure
  • Hebrew: הַרְפַּתְקָה (he) f (harpatká)
  • Icelandic: ævintýri (is)
  • Indonesian: petualangan (id)
  • Italian: avventura (it) f
  • Japanese: 冒険 (ja) (ぼうけん, bōken)
  • Korean: 모험(冒險) (ko) (moheom)
  • Latin: fortuna f, casus (la) m, eventa n pl
  • Malay: pengembaraan
  • Maltese: avventura f
  • Mongolian:
    Cyrillic: хийморь (mn) (xiimorʹ)
  • Polish: wypadek (pl) m, przypadek (pl) m
  • Portuguese: aventura (pt) f, peripécia (pt) f, acaso (pt) m
  • Russian: приключе́ние (ru) n (priključénije)
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: пустоло̀вина f
    Roman: pustolòvina (sh) f
  • Spanish: aventura (es) f
  • Turkish: macera (tr), seruven
  • Vietnamese: mạo hiểm (vi)
  • Volapük: ventür (vo)

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English aventuren, auntren, which from Old French aventurer, from aventure.

Verb[edit]

adventure (third-person singular simple present adventures, present participle adventuring, simple past and past participle adventured)

  1. (archaic, transitive) To risk or hazard; jeopard; venture.
  2. (archaic, transitive) To venture upon; to run the risk of; to dare.
    • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: [], London: [] Nath[aniel] Ponder [], →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas, [], 1928, →OCLC, page 150:

      Yet they adventured to go back; but it was ſo dark, and the flood was ſo high, that in their going back, they had like to have been drowned nine or ten times..

    • c. 1860, Isaac Taylor, Heads in Groups:
      Discriminations might be adventured.
  3. (archaic, intransitive) To try the chance; to take the risk.
    • 1792, Anthony à Wood, The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford: [], volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Gutch, →OCLC, page 661:

      The year following the ſaid [William] Warham was tranſlated to Canterbury, at whoſe inthronization ſomething occurred relating to this Univerſity; which though a little out of the road, yet I ſhall adventure to remember it, and it is this.

Derived terms[edit]
  • adventurer
  • adventuresome
  • adventuress
  • adventurous
  • adventurously
  • adventurousness
Translations[edit]

to risk

  • Dutch: wagen (nl), riskeren (nl)
  • Finnish: ottaa riski, riskeerata (fi)
  • Malayalam: സാഹസപ്പെടുക (sāhasappeṭuka)
  • Russian: рискова́ть (ru) impf (riskovátʹ), рискну́ть (ru) pf (risknútʹ)
  • Spanish: aventura (es)

to run the risk of

  • Dutch: wagen (nl), riskeren (nl)
  • Finnish: riskeerata (fi)
  • Malayalam: സാഹസമെടുക്കുക (sāhasameṭukkuka)
  • Russian: рискова́ть (ru) impf (riskovátʹ), рискну́ть (ru) pf (risknútʹ)

Further reading[edit]

  • adventure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams[edit]

  • aventured, unaverted

Latin[edit]

Participle[edit]

adventūre

  1. vocative masculine singular of adventūrus

Middle French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • aventure

Etymology[edit]

From Old French avanture, with the addition of a d to reflect Latin adventūrum.

Noun[edit]

adventure f (plural adventures)

  1. adventure
  2. fortune

Like this post? Please share to your friends:
  • Explain the meaning of the word of god
  • Explain the etymology of the word
  • Explain the difference between the word combination and the sentence
  • Explain latin word for
  • Explain in more detail word