rubicon
/ˈɹubəˌkɑn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.71 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A small river in northeastern Italy 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 B.C.E. began a civil war.
name
The same river in the present day, identified with a river previously named Fiumicino.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of rubicon (“a limit that when exceeded, 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”).
noun
A limit that when surpassed cannot be returned from, or an action that when taken cannot be reversed.
Example Sentences
- "Fortunately for England ſhe is yet on the peaceable ſide of the Rubicon; but as the flames once kindled are not alway eaſily extinguiſhed, the hopes of peace are not ſo clear as before the late myſterious diſpute began."
- "But, my hearers, there are Rubicons to be passed in our religious and moral course, as well as in our temporal—occasions in the experience of our hearts, which extend their influence so far into the future, that it mainly depends on the decision we then make, and the purposes we then form, whether we shall at last be saved or lost for ever."
- "Forgive me, ghosts of patriots,— [...] / [...] —for being taught in vain / That while the illegitimate Cæsars show / Of meaner stature than the first full strain, / (Confessed incompetent to conquer Gaul) / They swoon as feebly and cross Rubicons / As rashly as any Julius of them all."
- "We are always passing the Rubicon, or being called upon to see somebody else pass it. Considering how often it has been passed, the Rubicon ought to be as well bridged as the Thames. [...] Looking back a few years, we find that that heaven-born minister, Pitt [i.e., William Pitt the Younger], crossed the Rubicon time after time; and while he was crossing it, [Napoleon] Buonaparte was constantly crossing it also. Later, our Wellington crossed the Rubicon when he marched against the French in the Peninsula."
- "There's only one thing to be done, / For Ministers to save their bacon; / That's to re-cross the Rubicon, / To ground they ne'er should have forsaken. / [...] / On the wrong side [of] the Rubicon, / Hang me if longer I remain; / Gladstone must just re-build his boats, / And take us back again!"
- "The game is called a double, and you score 200 instead of 100 when your adversary does not get 100, which, in technical language, is called crossing the Rubicon."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₁rewdʰ-, Rubicō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹubəˌkɑn/
- British English: /ˈɹuːbɪkɒn/