domino

Etymology

Borrowed from French domino (1801), from Medieval Latin domino, from Latin dominus (“lord, master”); compare Medieval Latin dominicale (“a kind of veil”). The game is said to be so called from the black under surface or part of the pieces with which it is played.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: dŏ'mĭnō, IPA^(key): /ˈdɒmɪnəʊ/
• (US) enPR: dämĭnō, IPA^(key): /ˈdɑmɪnoʊ/

Noun

domino (plural dominos or dominoes)

1. (dominoes) A tile divided into two squares, each having 0 to 6 (or sometimes more) dots or pips (as in dice), used in the game of dominoes. [from c. 1800]
2. (politics) A country that is expected to react to events in a neighboring country, according to the domino effect.
3. A masquerade costume consisting of a hooded robe and a mask covering the upper part of the face.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 485:

     all the women were desirous of having the bundle immediately opened; which operation was at length performed by little Betsy, with the consent of Mr Jones: and the contents were found to be a domino, a mask, and a masquerade ticket.

   • 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1007:

     Then he hunted for the black carnival domino, supposing that it was the appropriate thing for a penitent to wear.

4. The mask itself.
   • 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram‎, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:

     He wore a domino, but beneath it could be seen his whiskers, cut after the English fashion, and long and pendent.

5. The person wearing the costume.
6. (geometry) A polyomino made up of two squares.

Verb

domino (third-person singular simple present dominoes, present participle dominoing, simple past and past participle dominoed)

1. (intransitive) To collapse in the manner of dominoes.
   • 2010, Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey →ISBN, page 107:

     A dismasting often means the dominoing of one mast into the other, down through the decks, cannoning the cargo through the hull below, and sinking the ship very quickly.

2. (transitive) To cause to collapse in the manner of dominoes.

Further reading

• domino in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• domino in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• monoid

Verb

domino

1. first-person singular present indicative form of dominar

Noun

domino n

1. dominoes

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin domino, from Latin dominus (“lord, master”).

Noun

domino m (plural dominos)

1. dominoes

Further reading

• “domino” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Etymology

Borrowed from French domino, from Medieval Latin domino, from Latin dominus (“lord, master”).

Noun

domino m (plural domini)

1. dominoes

Verb

domino

1. third-person plural present subjunctive of domare
2. third-person plural imperative of domare

Verb

domino

1. first-person singular present indicative of dominare

Noun

dominō

1. dative singular of dominus
2. ablative singular of dominus

References

• domino in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• domino in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)

Verb

domino

1. first-person singular present indicative of dominar

Verb

domino

1. First-person singular (yo) present indicative form of dominar.

Noun

domino n (uncountable)

1. dominoes; a type of game

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish dominó (“domino”).

Noun

dominó

1. domino