rubicon

Meanings

Noun

• A limit that when surpassed cannot be returned from, or an action that when taken cannot be reversed.
• Especially in bezique and piquet: a score which, if not achieved by a losing player, increases the player's penalty.

Verb

• Especially in bezique and piquet: to defeat a player who has not achieved the rubicon.

Origin

• The noun is derived from the phrase cross the Rubicon. Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon, a small river in northeastern Italy, on 10 January 49 , indicated his intention to start a civil war with Pompey. Rubicon is derived 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.
• The verb is derived from the noun.