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There are diverse views and interpretations of risk. In the literature, risk is often regarded as “analysis”, “social constructs”, “feelings ” and so forth. Limited studies were devoted to exploring the diversification of the meanings and there is a lack of (meta-)risk theory which explains their co-existence. This research paper depicts the development of a meta-theory of risk to fill these intellectual gaps and identifies a number of essential elements of the developed theory. The research found that risk exists only by virtue of the knowledge people have of it. This knowledge (known as risk knowledge) encompasses the scientific knowledge (e.g. risk analysis or estimation) and social knowledge (e.g. people’s perception, social/cultural norms, gut feelings). The intrinsic duality of the risk knowledge explains the diversification and co-existence of risk definitions in the risk literature. Furthermore, from the desktop study of the waterborne health threat such as Cryptosporidium in drinking/tap water in England and Wales, the meta-theory of risk demonstrates that risk is not static but dynamic. It evolves and changes over time. People’s perception of risk also changes over time and across different spatio-cultural dimensions, depending on the development and acquisition of risk knowledge via social learning processes. Because of this, risk is regarded as risk knowledge that people have of it. The development and evolution of people’s risk knowledge is via reflexive, social learning process. Based on the current research findings, implications to the existing risk theories, methods and tools, and risk management are discussed in addition to suggestions of future research areas