domino
/ˈdɑməˌnoʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.23 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
A country that is expected to react to events in a neighboring country, according to the domino effect.
noun
A masquerade costume consisting of a hooded robe and a mask covering the upper part of the face.
Example Sentences
- "Dominoes of indiscretions down Falling all around, in cycles, in circles Constantly consuming Conquer and devour"
- "If a domino had four squares on its surface, it would be a tetromino. With five squares, it would be a pentomino—nine, a nonomino, eleven, an unwieldy undecomino!"
- "The Mormon church's past anti-gay positions and its role in financing Proposition 8 – California's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage – may have been the first dominoes to fall around the faithful, but vetting Mitt Romney as a presidential candidate links the straightforward similarities between Mormonophobia and homophobia."
- "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."
- "The chair being announced, she fastened on her mask, and drew her domino round her, it not being her intention to display her splendid and fantastic costume till supper, when all the guests were expected to unmask."
- "For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks."
Etymology
1801, borrowed from French domino (1771), originally the term for a hooded garment, itself from Medieval Latin domino, oblique case of dominus (“lord, master”); compare Medieval Latin dominicale (“a kind of veil”). By surface analysis, di- + -omino.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɑməˌnoʊ/
- British English: /ˈdɒmɪnəʊ/