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odds

Etymology and origin of the English word odds

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1500

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɒdz/ (UK); /ɑdz/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is apparently the plural of the adjective odd used as a noun, or of the obsolete noun odd, an odd number,[2][3][4][5] although the exact sense development is uncertain.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unequal things or conditions: about 1500 in Etymonline, 1500–20 in the OED,[2][6] first in the phrase make odds even.[3]

Semantic evolution

Inequality or difference, the amount by which one thing exceeds another, is from the 1540s.[2][6] The betting sense, an allowance given to the weaker side, is from the 1590s, first found in Shakespeare's 2 Henry IV (1597);[2] the OED has the allowance to a weaker player from 1591.[6] The chance or balance of probability in favour of something is by the 1580s.[2] Disagreement or strife (1587), as in at odds, is another early sense.[6][2] Odds and ends (18th century) replaced earlier odd ends.[3] Until the 19th century odds was treated as singular, like news.[2][5] Odds-on is by 1890.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1500 – unequal things.[2][6]
  • 1542 – inequality, difference.[6]
  • 1587 – strife, at odds.[6]
  • 1591 – an allowance to a weaker player.[6]
  • 1597 – in wagering, in Shakespeare.[2]
  • 1890 – odds-on.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The likelihood that something will happen: the odds are against it.
  2. In betting, the ratio between the amounts staked by the parties.
  3. An advantage given to a weaker side to equalize chances.
  4. at odds: in disagreement or conflict.

Word family

  • oddsmaker
  • odds-on
  • odds and ends

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Odds.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/odds. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·