"The word “risk” originally comes from “rhizikon”, Byzantine Greek meaning “a sharp rock or reef”, later “any hazard to shipping”...The word “average” comes from an Arabic word “awariya” meaning “lost merchandise”; the “Law of General Average” is the principle that when stuff has to be chucked overboard in a storm the losses will be shared out fairly between the merchants so that the crew are can grab the heaviest objects as they see fit without worrying about who owns what." /1