Rubicon

Meanings

1. 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.
2. The same river in the present day, identified with a river previously named Fiumicino.
3. A locality in the Shire of Murrindindi, central eastern Victoria, Australia.

1. 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”).

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

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

Etymology

From Latin Rubicō, Rubicōn (“the Rubicon”), possibly from rubeus (“red, reddish”), from rubeō (“to be red”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”), an allusion to the colour of the river caused by mud deposits.