cards | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

85 entries found.

"a game played with cards," mid-15c., from plural of card (n.1).

also mis-deal, 1746, "to make an incorrect distribution in dealing (cards);" from mis- (1) "badly, wrongly" + deal (v.). The noun, "a wrong deal in cards, a deal in which the players do not all receive the proper number of cards in the proper order," is attested from 1793. The original verbal sense (late 15c.) was "to distribute unfairly." Related: Misdealt; misdealing.

taroc (n.)

1610s, name of an old card game of Italy, Austria, etc., played originally with a 78-card deck that includes four suits, four face-cards each, plus the tarot cards as trumps; from Old Italian tarocchi (plural); see tarot.

cartomancy (n.)

"divination by means of playing-cards," 1852, from combining form of card (n.1) + -mancy.

faro (n.)

18th century gambling game with cards, 1726, sometimes said to be altered from pharaoh, perhaps his image was on one of the cards, but early descriptions of the game give no indication of this and it seems to have been played with a standard deck.

skat (n.)

card game, 1864, from German Skat (by 1838), from earlier scart (said to have been a term used in the old card game called taroc, which was of Italian origin), from Italian scarto "cards laid aside," which is said to be a back-formation from scartare, from Latin ex- "off, away" + Late Latin carta (see card (n.1)). The German game is perhaps so called because it is played with a rump deck, or because two cards are laid aside at the start of the game, or because discarding is an important part of the game. Compare French card game écarté, literally "cards removed."

ecarte (n.)

card game for two played with 32 cards, 1824, from French écarté, literally "discarded," past participle of écarter "to discard," from e- (see ex-) + carte (see card (n.1)). So called because the players may discard cards in his hand after the deal and get new ones from the deck.

canasta (n.)

1945, Uruguayan card game played with two decks and four jokers, popular 1945-c. 1965; from Spanish, literally "basket," from Latin canistrum (see canister). In the game a canasta is seven cards of the same rank, giving the player a large bonus. A Spanish card-playing term for building up a meld was tejiendo las cartas, literally "weaving the cards," hence perhaps the name is based on the image of a woven "basket."

keypunch (n.)

1933, from keyboard (which operated it) + punch (v.), which is what it did to the cards inserted in it to record data.

carder (n.)

"one who cards wool, etc., for spinning," mid-15c. (mid-14c. as a surname), agent noun from card (v.2).

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