casino English · revision 7186

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1744|origins=la casa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəˈsiːnəʊ/ ''(UK)''; /kæˈsinoʊ/, /kəˈsinoʊ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|casino|t=a little house]], a diminutive of [[m|it|casa|t=house]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from Latin [[m|la|casa|t=hut, cottage, cabin]], of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The same Latin word is the source of [[chalet]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A public room for music or dancing: 1744, in Horace Walpole's letters.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A club-house or public room for social meetings is from 1789.^(OED 1989) 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.^(Etymonline) A gambling house generally, now the usual sense, is from 1851;^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) a summer-house in Italy is from 1831.^(OED 1989) The card game, also spelled cassino, is from 1792.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1744 – a public room for dancing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1789 – a club-house.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1792 – the card game.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1820 – a gambling house in Italy.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1851 – a gambling building.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A building or room where gambling games are played.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A card game for two to four players, also spelled cassino.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[subcasino]]

+ * [[big casino]]

+ * [[clams casino]]

+ * [[little casino]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[casa]]

+ * [[chalet]]

+ * [[cassino]]

+ * [[gamble]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}