dice

Etymology

It is the plural of die, the small cube used in games:^[2][3][4][5] inherited from Middle English dys, dees, the plural of dy,^[6][7] from Old French dez, the plural of de.^[8][9][10] The Old French word is usually traced to Latin datum (“something given”), the past participle of dō (“to give”), which also had the sense "to play" (as a piece in chess);^[2][9] or else the notion was "what is given" by chance or fortune.^[2][11] Etymonline links the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”).^[2] The form dys was altered to dyse and dyce in the 14th century and to dice by 1479.^[6][2] Etymonline, quoting the OED, explains that the final -s kept its voiceless sound, as in pence, because the word was felt as a collective rather than an ordinary plural.^[2] The verb, first recorded about 1390, is formed from the noun.^[4][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Small cubes marked with spots, thrown in games of chance: early 14th century, as des and dys;^[2] Barnhart dates dys to probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[6] The verb's first sense was culinary, to cut into small cubes, in the Forme of Cury of about 1390.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

Between about 1400 and 1700 dice was also used as a singular, with a plural dices,^[6][2][8] and in British English it has now largely replaced die for a single cube, which survives mainly in the die is cast and in American use.^[9][11] The verb meant to play or gamble with dice from the mid-15th century,^[4][6] to lose by gambling from 1549,^[4] and to ornament with a checked pattern from 1694.^[4] Dice-box is recorded from the 1550s.^[2] Journalists used dice with death in the early 20th century for the risks of racing drivers, and this is probably the source of dicey, used by RAF pilots in the 1950s.^[11] The American slang no dice, meaning "no use, no luck", is a later development.^[7][12] In Australian slang, from the 1940s, to dice was to reject or throw away.^[4][13] In Scots, the whole box and dice meant the whole lot.^[14]

Timeline

• early 14th century – des, dys, plural of die.^[2]
• ?c1390 – verb, to cut into cubes.^[4][6]
• c1440 – verb, to play at dice.^[4]
• 1479 – the spelling dice.^[6]
• 1549 – to gamble away.^[4]
• 1550s – dice-box.^[2]
• 1694 – to ornament with a checked pattern.^[4]
• 1945 – (Australian slang) to reject, throw away.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Small cubes with one to six spots on their faces, thrown in games of chance and gambling; also used as the singular, for one such cube.
2. A game played with these cubes.
3. Small cubes of food: a dice of carrot and celery.

Verb

1. To cut food into small cubes: Dice the onions finely.
2. To play or gamble with dice; dice with death, to take great risks.
3. (Australian, slang) To reject or throw away.

Word family

• dicer
• dicey

Related words

• die
• date
• data
• cube
• gamble

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)