Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- phrase idiomatic The future is
determined ; there are no more options; events will proceed in anirreversible manner; thepoint of no return has been passed.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From games of chance in which the outcome is determined by the throwing of dice or a single die. Popularized by its use by Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon to begin a civil war in the Roman Republic, indicating the commission of an irreversible act, from whence also cross the Rubicon.
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Examples
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ry commented on the word the die is cast
I'm a fan of the origin of this phrase; it's an attribution to Julius Caesar (usually "alea iacta est"), supposedly stated as he gave the command to his army to begin crossing the river Rubicon, officially entering Roman land, and thereby irrevocably committing himself to civil war. Thus also the phrase cross the Rubicon.
May 10, 2013