Etymologically
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casino

Etymology and origin of the English word casino

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1744
Borrowed from
Italian casino
Ultimate origin
Latin (casa)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kəˈsiːnəʊ/ (UK); /kæˈsinoʊ/, /kəˈsinoʊ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian casino (“a little house”), a diminutive of casa (“house”),[2][3][4][5] from Latin casa (“hut, cottage, cabin”), of uncertain origin.[3][2] The same Latin word is the source of chalet.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A public room for music or dancing: 1744, in Horace Walpole's letters.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

A club-house or public room for social meetings is from 1789.[7] A building for aristocratic gambling is by 1820, first in an Italian context, when a writer noted that casino was applied indiscriminately to farm offices, a country seat, a gambling house and a card game.[3] A gambling house generally, now the usual sense, is from 1851;[7][6] a summer-house in Italy is from 1831.[7] The card game, also spelled cassino, is from 1792.[3][8]

Timeline

  • 1744 – a public room for dancing.[2][3]
  • 1789 – a club-house.[7]
  • 1792 – the card game.[3]
  • 1820 – a gambling house in Italy.[3]
  • 1851 – a gambling building.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A building or room where gambling games are played.
  2. A card game for two to four players, also spelled cassino.

Word family

  • subcasino
  • big casino
  • clams casino
  • little casino
  • casa
  • chalet
  • cassino
  • gamble

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Casino.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/casino. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·