rubicon

Pronunciation: /ˈɹuːbɪkɒn/

The English word “rubicon” has 3 meanings listed here.

noun

A limit that when surpassed cannot be returned from, or an action that when taken cannot be reversed.
Especially in bezique and piquet: a score which, if not achieved by a losing player, increases the player's penalty.

verb

Especially in bezique and piquet: to defeat a player who has not achieved the rubicon.

Etymology

The noun is derived from the phrase cross the Rubicon (“to make an irreversible decision or to take an action with consequences”). Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon, a small river in northeastern Italy, on 10 January 49 B.C.E., indicated his intention to start a civil war with Pompey. Rubicon is derived from Latin Rubicō, Rubicōn (“the Rubicon”), possibly from rubeus (“red, reddish”), from…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.