menace
n. countablen. a person or thing that causes danger, trouble, or fear. You use this word when someone or something is a real problem that needs to be dealt with.
n. a source of danger, harm, or annoyance. Often used with the preposition 'to' to specify who or what is threatened.
The old tree is a menace to the house.
Speeding cars are a major menace to pedestrians in this busy city center.
The unchecked expansion of invasive species poses a significant menace to the delicate balance of the local ecosystem.
From Middle English manace, from Old French manace, menace, &c., from Late Latin minācia (“threat, menace”), from Latin mināx (“threatening”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns).
First attested in 1303: from Middle English manacen, from Old French menacer, manecier, manechier and Anglo-Norman manasser, from the assumed Vulgar Latin *mināciāre, from Latin minācia, whence the noun.