Rubicon

Meanings

Proper Noun

• small river in northeastern Italy (country) which flowed into the Adriatic Sea marking the boundary between the Roman province of Gaul and the Roman heartland. Its crossing by Julius Caesar in 49 began a civil war.
• The same river in the present day, identified with a river previously named Fiumicino.

Noun

• Alternate spelling of rubicon

Origin

• From Latin Rubicō, Rubicōn, possibly from rubeus, from rubeō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- ("red"), an allusion to the colour of the river caused by mud deposits.