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casino - 4 dictionary results

ca⋅si⋅no

  [kuh-see-noh]
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–noun, plural -nos for 1.
1. a building or large room used for meetings, entertainment, dancing, etc., esp. such a place equipped with gambling devices, gambling tables, etc.
2. (in Italy) a small country house or lodge.
3. Also, cassino. Cards. a game in which cards that are face up on the table are taken with eligible cards in the hand.
Origin:
1780–90; < It, equiv. to cas(a) house + -ino dim. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ca·si·no   (kə-sē'nō)   
n.   pl. ca·si·nos
  1. A public room or building for gambling and other entertainment.
  2. also cas·si·no A card game for two to four players in which cards on the table are matched by cards in the hand.
  3. A summer or country house in Italy.

[Italian, diminutive of casa, house, from Latin.]
Word History: The history of the word casino reveals a transformation from a cottage to a gambling palace. The source of our word, Italian casino, is a diminutive of casa, "house." Central to the transformation is the development of the senses of casino in Italian. The word was first applied to a country house and then came to be used for a social gathering place, a room or building where one could dance, listen to music, and gamble. This last pastime seems to have gained precedence over the others, at least as far as the development of the word is concerned, and casino took on the meaning "gambling establishment." These senses of the Italian word have all been borrowed into English, the sense "social gathering place" being recorded first in the 18th century, the sense "gambling establishment" first in 1851.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Casino

Ca*si"no\, n.; pl. E. Casinos, It. Casini. [It. casino, dim. of casa house, fr. L. casa cottage. Cf. Cassing.]

1. A small country house.

2. A building or room used for meetings, or public amusements, for dancing, gaming, etc.

3. A game at cards. See Cassino.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : casino
Spanish: casino,
German: das Kasino,
Japanese: カジノ
More Translations »

casino 
1744, "public room for music or dancing," from It. casino, dim. of casa "house," from L. casa "hut, shed," of uncertain origin. The card game is attested by that name from 1792.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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