dice

dice
\ \ [14] Dice originated, as every schoolboy knows, as the plural of die, which it has now virtually replaced in British English as the term for a ‘cube marked with numbers’. Die itself comes via Old French de from Latin datum, the past participle of the verb dare (and source also of English date). The main meaning of dare was ‘give’, but it also had the secondary sense ‘play’, as in ‘play a chess piece’. The plural of the Old French word was dez (itself occasionally used as a singular), which gave rise to such Middle English forms as des, dees, and deys and, by around 1500, dyse.
\ \ The singular die survives for ‘dice’ in American English, and also in the later subsidiary sense ‘block or other device for stamping or impressing’ (which originated around 1700).
\ \ Cf.DATE, DONATE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • DICE — steht für: Liar Dice, Würfelpoker Poker Dice Würfelpoker Dice Stacking Geschicklichkeitsspiel, Mini Dice Glücksspiel Dragon Dice Sammelwürfelspiel Uno Dice, Kartenspiel Fuzzy Dice Nachbildungen von Spielwürfeln Digital Illusions CE, schwedisches… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dice — steht für: Liar Dice, Würfelpoker Poker Dice Würfelpoker Dice Stacking Geschicklichkeitsspiel, Mini Dice Glücksspiel Dragon Dice Sammelwürfelspiel Uno Dice, Kartenspiel Fuzzy Dice Nachbildungen von Spielwürfeln Loco Dice DJ und Produzent der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dice — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Para otros usos de este término, véase Dice (desambiguación). Dice, Dicea o Diké (en griego antiguo Δίκη Díkê, ‘justicia’) es, en la mitología griega, la personificación de la justicia. Según Hesíodo era hija de Zeus …   Wikipedia Español

  • dice — ► NOUN (pl. same; sing. also die) ▪ a small cube with faces bearing from one to six spots, used in games of chance. See also DIE(Cf. ↑die). ► VERB ▪ cut (food) into small cubes. ● dice with death Cf. ↑dice with death …   English terms dictionary

  • dice — dice; prej·u·dice·less; war·ran·dice; jaun·dice; prej·u·dice; cad·dice; …   English syllables

  • dice — [dīs] pl.n. sing. die or dice [ME dis, pl.: see DIE2] 1. small cubes of bone, plastic, etc. marked on each side with a different number of spots (from one to six) and used, usually in pairs, in games of chance 2. [with sing. v.] a gambling game… …   English World dictionary

  • Dice — (d[imac]s), n.; pl. of {Die}. Small cubes used in gaming or in determining by chance; also, the game played with dice. See {Die}, n. [1913 Webster] {Dice coal}, a kind of coal easily splitting into cubical fragments. Brande & C. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dice — (d[imac]s), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Diced} (d[imac]st); p. pr. & vb. n. {Dicing}.] To play games with dice. [1913 Webster] I . . . diced not above seven times a week. Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Dice — (d[imac]s), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Diced} (d[imac]st); p. pr. & vb. n. {Dicing}.] 1. (Cooking) To cut into small cubes; as, to slice and dice carrots. [PJC] 2. To ornament with squares, diamonds, or cubes. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dice — early 14c., des, dys, plural of dy (see DIE (Cf. die) (n.)), altered 14c. to dyse, dyce, and 15c. to dice. As in pence, the plural s retains its original breath sound, probably because these words were not felt as ordinary plurals, but as… …   Etymology dictionary

  • dice — is in origin the plural of die (as in the die is cast, meaning ‘the decisive step has been taken’). Dice are also the small cubes bearing 1 to 6 spots on each face, used in games of chance; this form is also used for the singular (He had a dice… …   Modern English usage

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”