tables

(backgammon) The halves or quarters of a backgammon board.


point

en-noun

point (countable and uncountable, plural points)

→ Cantonese: point

→ Indonesian: poin

→ Japanese: ポイント (pointo)

→ Korean: 포인트 (pointeu)

→ Malay: poin

From Middle English poynt, from Old French point m (“dot; minute amount”), from Latin pūnctum (“a hole punched in; a point, puncture”), substantive use of pūnctus m, perfect passive participle of pungō (“I prick, punch”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“prick, punch”)); alternatively, from Old French pointe f (“sharp tip”), from Latin pūncta f (past participle). Mostly displaced native Middle English ord (“point”), from Old English ord (“point”). Doublet of pointe, ponto, puncto, punctum, punt, and punto.

kärki

position at the front or vanguard of an advancing force

decimal point

not used when reading decimal fractions aloud

(backgammon) Each of the twelve triangular positions in either table of a backgammon board, on which the stones are played.

kiila

backgammon: one of the twelve triangular positions


rail

→ Catalan: rail

→ Dutch: rail

→ French: rail

→ Japanese: レール (rēru)

→ Punjabi: ਰੇਲ (rel)

→ Spanish: raíl

→ Swahili: reli

→ Tibetan: རི་ལི (ri li, “train”)

From Middle English rail, rayl, *reȝel, *reȝol (found in reȝolsticke (“a ruler”)), partly from Old English regol (“a ruler, straight bar”) and partly from Old French reille; both from Latin regula (“rule, bar”), from regō (“to rule, to guide, to govern”); see regular. Doublet of regal, regula, rigol, and rule.

doublet

(backgammon) The raised edge of the game board.


pin

en-verb

pin (third-person singular simple present pins, present participle pinning, simple past and past participle pinned)

pins (present singular third-person)
pinning (participle present)
pinned (participle past)
pinned (past)

From Middle English pinne, from Old English pinn (“pin, peg, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *pinnaz, *pinnō, *pint- (“protruding point, peak, peg, pin, nail”), from Proto-Indo-European *bend- (“protruding object, pointed peg, nail, edge”). Related to pen (“enclosure”).
Cognate with Dutch pin (“peg, pin”), Low German pin, pinne (“pin, point, nail, peg”), German Pinn, Pinne (“pin, tack, peg”), Bavarian Pfonzer, Pfunzer (“sharpened point”), Danish pind (“pin, pointed stick”), Norwegian pinn (“stick”), Swedish pinne (“peg, rod, stick”), Icelandic pinni (“pin”). More at pintle.
No relation to classical Latin pinna (“fin, flipper, wing-like appendage, wing, feather”), which was extended to mean "ridge, peak, point" (compare pinnacle), and often confused with Latin penna (“wing, feather”). More at feather and pen (Etymology 3).

cog

(backgammon) To move a piece onto a blot, preventing the piece from further movement.


break

en-verb

break (third-person singular simple present breaks, present participle breaking, simple past broke or (archaic) brake, past participle broken or (nonstandard) broke)

breaks (present singular third-person)
breaking (participle present)
broke (past)
brake (archaic past)
broken (participle past)
broke (nonstandard participle past)
break (infinitive)
break (first-person present singular)
broke (first-person past singular)
break (present second-person singular)
breakest (archaic present second-person singular)
broke (past second-person singular)
brokest (archaic past second-person singular)
breaks (present singular third-person)
breaketh (archaic present singular third-person)
broke (past singular third-person)
break (plural present)
broke (past plural)
break (present subjunctive)
broke (past subjunctive)
break (imperative present)
breaking (participle present)
broken (participle past)

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). Doublet of bray.
Cognates
Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”).
Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment.

breek

intransitive: to separate into (to end up in) two or more pieces

thyen

transitive: to separate into (to cause to end up in) two or more pieces

sındırmaq

to cause a person to lose spirit or will

խախտել

transitive: to do that which is forbidden by (something)

փչանալ

intransitive: to stop functioning properly or altogether

ջարդել

transitive: to cause to stop functioning

burst

ergative: separate into two or more pieces

contravene

transitive: do that which is forbidden by

break one's arm patting oneself on the back

you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs

(transitive, backgammon) To remove one of the two men on (a point).


hit

en-verb

hit (third-person singular simple present hits, present participle hitting, simple past hit or (dialectal, obsolete) hat or (rare, dialectal) het, past participle hit or (archaic, rare, dialectal) hitten)

hits (present singular third-person)
hitting (participle present)
hit (past)
hat (dialectal obsolete past)
het (dialectal past rare)
hit (participle past)
hitten (archaic dialectal participle past rare)

miss

antonym(s) of “manage to touch in the right place”

From Middle English hitten (“to hit, strike, make contact with”), from Old English hittan (“to meet with, come upon, fall in with”), from Old Norse hitta (“to strike, meet”), from Proto-Germanic *hittijaną (“to come upon, find”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- (“to fall; fall upon; hit; cut; hew”).
Cognate with Icelandic hitta (“to meet”), Danish hitte (“to find”), Latin caedō (“to kill”), Albanian qit (“to hit, throw, pull out, release”).

cog

don't let the door hit you on the way out

let the door hit you where the good Lord split you

not be able to hit the broad side of a barn

(backgammon) To take up, or replace by a piece belonging to the opposing player; said of a single unprotected piece on a point.


hit

→ Catalan: hit

→ Czech: hit

→ Danish: hit

→ French: hit

→ Dutch: hit

→ Japanese: ヒット (hitto)

→ Polish: hit

→ Portuguese: hit

→ Russian: хит (xit)

→ Spanish: hit

→ Swedish: hit

хіт

success, especially in the entertainment industry

папада́нне

collision of a projectile with the target

(backgammon) A move that throws one of the opponent's men back to the entering point.

(backgammon) A game won after the adversary has removed some of his men. It counts for less than a gammon.


make

en-verb

make (third-person singular simple present makes, present participle making, simple past and past participle made or (dialectal or obsolete) maked)

makes (present singular third-person)
making (participle present)
made (participle past)
made (past)
maked (dialectal obsolete participle past)
maked (dialectal obsolete past)
make (infinitive)
make (first-person present singular)
made (first-person past singular)
maked (dialectal first-person past singular)
make (present second-person singular)
makest (archaic present second-person singular)
made (past second-person singular)
maked (dialectal past second-person singular)
madest (archaic past second-person singular)
makes (present singular third-person)
maketh (archaic present singular third-person)
made (past singular third-person)
maked (dialectal past singular third-person)
make (plural present)
made (past plural)
maked (dialectal past plural)
make (present subjunctive)
made (past subjunctive)
maked (dialectal past subjunctive)
make (imperative present)
making (participle present)
makeing (archaic participle present)
made (participle past)
maked (dialectal participle past)
mak (alternative Durham Wearside dialectal)
makee (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
myek (alternative Geordie dialectal)

From Middle English maken, from Old English macian (“to make, build, work”), from Proto-West Germanic *makōn (“to make, build, work”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ǵ- (“to knead, mix, make”).
Related to match.
Cognates
* Scots mak (“to make”)
* Saterland Frisian moakje (“to make”)
* West Frisian meitsje (“to make”)
* Dutch maken (“to make”)
* Dutch Low Saxon maken (“to make”)
* German Low German maken (“to make”)
* German machen (“to make, do”)
* Danish mage (“to make, arrange (in a certain way)”)
* Latin mācerō, macer
* Ancient Greek μάσσω (mássō)

elér

with definite conjugation and a subordinate clause

don't get your honey where you make your money

it takes a heap of living to make a house a home

it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home

it takes a lot of living to make a house a home

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails

mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails

you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear

you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette

(transitive, backgammon) To establish two or more men on (a point) so that it cannot be captured.


beaver

en-noun

beaver (countable and uncountable, plural beavers or (senses 1 and 4) beaver)

beavers (plural)
beaver (plural)
Beaver (alternative)

From Middle English bever, from Old English befer, from Proto-West Germanic *bebru, from Proto-Germanic *bebruz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰébʰrus (“beaver”).
Cognate with West Frisian bever, Dutch bever, French bièvre, German Biber, dialectal Swedish bjur. Non-Germanic cognates include Welsh befer, Latin fiber, Lithuanian bẽbras, Russian бобр (bobr), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬭𐬀 (bauura), and Sanskrit बभ्रु (bábhru, “mongoose; ichneumon”).
Slang use to refer to a woman evolved from use to refer to pubic hair, which evolved from use to refer to beards, which evolved from use to refer to the furry animal or its fur.

cog

(countable, backgammon) A move in response to being doubled, in which one immediately doubles the stakes again, keeping the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.


beaver

en-verb

beaver (third-person singular simple present beavers, present participle beavering, simple past and past participle beavered)

beavers (present singular third-person)
beavering (participle present)
beavered (participle past)
beavered (past)

(backgammon) After being doubled, to immediately double the stakes again, a move that keeps the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.


stone

en-noun

stone (countable and uncountable, plural stones or (UK, as unit of weight) stone)

Sranan Tongo: ston

→ Esperanto: ŝtono

From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”).
See also West Frisian stien, Saterland Frisian Steen, Dutch steen, German Stein, Danish and Swedish sten, Norwegian stein; also Russian стена́ (stená, “wall”), Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”), στέαρ (stéar, “tallow”), Albanian shtëng (“hardened or pressed matter”), Sanskrit स्त्यायते (styāyate, “it hardens”)). Doublet of stein.

cog

(board games) A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon and go.

քար

piece of hard material used in board games


bar

en-noun

bar (countable and uncountable, plural bars)

→ Albanian: bar m

→ Arabic: بَار m (bār)

→ Armenian: բար (bar)

→ Bulgarian: бар (bar)

→ Burmese: ဘား (bha:)

→ Chichewa: bála

→ Cantonese: 吧 (baa¹)

→ Czech: bar m

→ Danish: bar c

→ Dutch: bar m

→ Esperanto: baro

→ Estonian: baar

→ French: bar m
→ Romanian: bar

→ Galician: bar m

→ Georgian: ბარი (bari)

→ German: Bar f

→ Greek: μπαρ n (bar)

→ Gulf Arabic: بار (bār)

→ Hebrew: בָּר (bar), בָּאר (bár)

→ Hungarian: bár (also via German)

→ Icelandic: bar m

→ Irish: beár m

→ Italian: bar m

→ Japanese: バー (bā)

→ Khmer: បារ (baa)

→ Korean: 바 (ba)

→ Lithuanian: bãras m

→ Macedonian: бар m (bar)

→ Malagasy: ba

→ Mandarin: 吧 (bā)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: bar m

Nynorsk: bar m

→ Persian: بار (bâr)

→ Polish: bar m

→ Portuguese: bar m

→ Russian: бар m (bar)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ба̑р m, bȃr m

→ Slovene: bȃr m

→ Spanish: bar m

→ Swahili: baa

→ Swedish: bar c (see there for further descendants)

→ Thai: บาร์ (baa)

→ Turkish: bar

→ Xhosa: íbhári

→ Zulu: ibha

From Middle English barre, from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”), from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin. Doublet of barre.

der

(backgammon) The central divider between the inner and outer table of a backgammon board, where stones are placed if they are hit.


flèche

Borrowed from French flèche. Compare fletch.

(backgammon) Any of the twenty-four points on a backgammon board.


table

tables (plural)
tyebble (alternative Geordie)

→ Assamese: টেবুল (tebul)

→ Bengali: টেবিল (ṭebil)

→ Gujarati: ટેબલ (ṭebal)

→ Japanese: テーブル (tēburu)

→ Korean: 테이블 (teibeul)

→ Maori: tēpu

→ Nepali: टेबुल (ṭebul)

→ Odia: ଟେବଲ୍ (ṭebal)

→ Sylheti: ꠐꠦꠛꠥꠟ (ṭebul)

→ Telugu: టేబులు (ṭēbulu)

Inherited from Middle English table, tabel, tabil, tabul, from Old English tabele, tabul, tablu, tabule, tabula (“board”); also as tæfl, tæfel, an early Germanic borrowing of Latin tabula (“tablet, board, plank, chart”). The sense of “piece of furniture” is from Old French table, of same Latin origin; Old English used bēod or bord instead for this meaning: see board. Doublet of tabula and tavla.

(countable) Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.

(backgammon) One half of a backgammon board, which is divided into the inner and outer table.


block

→ Dutch: block

→ German: Block

→ Irish: bloc

→ Manx: block

→ Maori: poraka

→ Norwegian: blokk

→ Polish: blok

desctree

→ Russian: блок (blok)
→ Armenian: բլոկ (blok)
→ Yakut: блок (blok)

→ Spanish: block

→ Vietnamese: lốc

From Middle English blok (“log, stump, solid piece”), from Old French bloc (“log, block”), from Middle Dutch blok (“treetrunk”), from Old Dutch *blok (“log”), from Proto-West Germanic *blokk, from Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”). Cognate with Old Frisian blok, Old Saxon blok, Old High German bloh, bloc (“block”), Old English bolca (“gangway of a ship, plank”), Old Norse bǫlkr (“divider, partition”). More at balk. See also bloc, bulk.

طَابُوقَة

substantial often approximately cuboid piece

թաղամաս

group of buildings demarcated by streets

Something that prevents something from passing.

(backgammon) Any point on the board where two or more men rest, and consequently an opponent may not land.


blockade

From block + -ade, probably after Dutch blocquade (now blokkade) or German Blockade.

blockage

nearly synonymous, but not interchangeably; blockade usually denotes human agency


tavla

en-noun

tavla (usually uncountable, plural tavlas)

From Turkish tavla, from Italian tavola, from Latin tabula. Doublet of table and tabula.

1978, Past the tavern and hear the joggle of tavlas — Lawrence Durrell, in a 1977 interview published in Listener, 1978, and reprinted in Lawrence Durrell: Conversations, 1998 (see p.174)

(backgammon) A version of the board game backgammon played widely in Turkey and other countries of the region.


prime

composite

prime element of a mathematical structure

From Middle English prime, from Old French prime and its etymon, Latin prīmus (“first”), from earlier prīsmos < *prīsemos < Proto-Italic *priisemos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“beyond, before”). Doublet of primo and primus.
The noun sense "apostrophe-like symbol" originates from the fact that the symbol ′ was originally a superscript Roman numeral one.

der

I'm threatening to build a prime here.

(backgammon) A series of consecutive blocks. A prime of six prevents the opponent's pieces from passing.


blot

→ Polish: blotka

From Middle English blot (“blot, spot, stain, blemish”). Perhaps from Old Norse *blettr (“blot, stain”) (only attested in documents from after Old Norse transitioned to Icelandic blettur), or from Old French bloche (“clod of earth”).

inh

(backgammon) An exposed piece in backgammon.


blot

en-verb

blot (third-person singular simple present blots, present participle blotting, simple past and past participle blotted)

blots (present singular third-person)
blotting (participle present)
blotted (participle past)
blotted (past)


throw off

throw off (third-person singular simple present throws off, present participle throwing off, simple past threw off, past participle thrown off)

throws off (present singular third-person)
throwing off (participle present)
threw off (past)
thrown off (participle past)


singleton

From single + -ton, probably following the model of simpleton.


blunder

blunder (third-person singular simple present blunders, present participle blundering, simple past and past participle blundered)

blunders (present singular third-person)
blundering (participle present)
blundered (participle past)
blundered (past)

→ Dutch: blunderen

Inherited from Middle English blundren, blondren (verb) and blunder, blonder (“disturbance, strife”), from the verb; partly from Middle English blondren, a frequentative form of Middle English blonden, blanden ("to mix; mix up"; corresponding to blend + -er); and partly from Middle English blundren, a frequentative form of Middle English blunden (“to stagger; stumble”), from Old Norse blunda (“to shut the eyes; doze”). Cognates include Norwegian blunda (“to shut the eyes; doze”), dialectal Swedish blundra (“to act blindly or rashly”), Danish blunde (“to blink”) or blunde (“to take a nap”), Icelandic blunda (“to nap; doze”). Related to English blind.

cog

(intransitive) To make a big mistake, especially when it is careless or stupid.

(chess, backgammon, intransitive) To make a bad move, especially caused by tactical oversight.


hit and run

en-verb

hit and run (third-person singular simple present hits and runs, present participle hitting and running, simple past hit and ran, past participle hit and run)

hits and runs (present singular third-person)
hitting and running (participle present)
hit and ran (past)
hit and run (participle past)
hit-and-run (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hit and run.wav


gammon

gammon (third-person singular simple present gammons, present participle gammoning, simple past and past participle gammoned)

gammons (present singular third-person)
gammoning (participle present)
gammoned (participle past)
gammoned (past)
gamen (alternative)
gammen (alternative)
gammin (alternative)
gamon (alternative)

From Middle English gamnen, gomnen, gamenen, gomenen, from Old English gamnian, gæmnian, gamenian (“to joke, play”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamanōn, from Proto-Germanic *gamanōną (“to play, have fun, joke”). Cognate with Middle High German gamenen (“to mock, make fun of”), Icelandic gamna (“to have fun”). More at game.

cog

(backgammon) To beat by a gammon (without the opponent bearing off a stone).


gammon

en-noun

gammon (countable and uncountable, plural gammons)

gammons (plural)
gamen (alternative)
gammen (alternative)
gammin (alternative)
gamon (alternative)

Toward the end of the game Roger had not borne off a single stone belonging to Roseanna, and she scored a gammon. She could not hide the triumph in her eyes. “Perhaps you will play a better game if we play for something closer to your heart,” she suggested.

2009 July 29, Virginia Henley, The Raven and the Rose, Island Books, →ISBN, page 210:

(backgammon) A victory in backgammon achieved when the opponent has not borne off a single stone.


redouble

en-verb

redouble (third-person singular simple present redoubles, present participle redoubling, simple past and past participle redoubled)

redoubles (present singular third-person)
redoubling (participle present)
redoubled (participle past)
redoubled (past)

From Middle French redoubler. By surface analysis, re- + double.

(bridge, backgammon) To double an opponent's doubling bid.


rollout

rollouts (plural)
roll-out (alternative)

(backgammon) A form of analysis in which the same position is played many times (with different dice rolls) and the various outcomes are recorded.


bear off

bear off (third-person singular simple present bears off, present participle bearing off, simple past bore off, past participle borne off)

bears off (present singular third-person)
bearing off (participle present)
bore off (past)
borne off (participle past)

The first player to bear off all checkers is the winner.

(backgammon) To remove one of one's own checkers from the board.


trois point

(backgammon) The third point from the outer edge on each player's home table.


doubling cube

(backgammon) A cube used to record the number of points at stake in a game, bearing on its six sides the powers of two from 2 to 64.


backgame

The strategy of the backgame is very similar to the defensive strategy discussed earlier; i.e., you begin to make your points inside your inner table and wait for him to leave a blot.

1977, Nicolaos S. Tzannes, Basil Tzannes, Backgammon Games and Strategies, page 65:

We are also taught that we should not commit to a backgame until we have to and that we should try to win by going forward if at all possible.

When playing a backgame, you need to have at least two anchors in your opponent's home board, ideally on their 2- and 3-points.

2007, Michael Crane, Teach Yourself Backgammon, page 27:

(backgammon) A game in which a player blocks the opponent's progress by forming two or more points in the opponent's home board.


pick and pass

pick and pass (third-person singular simple present picks and passes, present participle picking and passing, simple past and past participle picked and passed)

picks and passes (present singular third-person)
picking and passing (participle present)
picked and passed (participle past)
picked and passed (past)

(backgammon) To hit the opponent's blot (exposed piece) and take the hitting checker to safety, within a single play.


backgammoner

I strove to enlist the sympathies of the backgammoners and the crocheters, even the embroiderers, but in vain; I found with chagrin that I could not awaken one throb of interest in their unfeeling breasts, regarding my “geranium lady.”

1898 June, Caroline Ticknor, “The Geranium Lady”, in New England Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume XVIII, number 4, Boston, Mass.: Warren F. Kellogg, […], page 498, column 1:

The castle arkwright put in a chequered staircase certainly. It has only one square step, to be steady, yet notwithstumbling are they stalemating backgammoner supstairs by skips and trestles tiltop double corner.

1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960, →OCLC, part III, page 560:

A young intercontinental crowd injects a bit of life into old backgammoners.

1986, Sue Carpenter, edited by Lord Lichfield [i.e., Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield], Courvoisier’s Book of the Best, London: Ebury Press, →ISBN, page 74, column 3:

Numbers are somewhat diminished at breakfast—Peter and Ellen have their own table, so do the backgammoners, Liz is attending a bar mitzvah in Jerusalem, and Dan and Davide are at a wedding in Wales, so we just have Georgie, Janet, Hanna, and Ronnie.

2012, Anthony Linick, “September, 2007”, in A Doggy Day in London Town (Life Among the Dog People of Paddington Rec; IV), Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 77:


ace point

(backgammon) The player's first point on the board.


side prime

(backgammon) A prime (blockade) of six consecutive points.


bar point

(backgammon) The player's seventh point on the board.