The word hazard meaning danger or risk comes from the Arabic words al zahr, which mean the dice. In Western Europe the term came to be associated with a number of games using dice, which were learnt during the Crusades in the Holy Land. The term eventually took on the idea of danger because games using dice were associated with the risky business of gambling and con artists using loaded dice. The word hazardous is one of only four words commonly used in English ending in –DOUS. The other three are horrendous, stupendous and tremendous.