domino

Definition

A tile divided into two squares, each having 0 to 6 (or sometimes more) dots or pips (as in dice), used in the game of dominoes.

Etymology

1801, borrowed from French domino (1771), originally the term for a hooded garment, itself from Medieval Latin domino, oblique case of dominus (“lord, master”); compare Medieval Latin dominicale (“a kind of veil”). By surface analysis, di- + -omino.

Example Sentences

• "Dominoes of indiscretions down Falling all around, in cycles, in circles Constantly consuming Conquer and devour"
• "If a domino had four squares on its surface, it would be a tetromino. With five squares, it would be a pentomino—nine, a nonomino, eleven, an unwieldy undecomino!"
• "The Mormon church's past anti-gay positions and its role in financing Proposition 8 – California's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage – may have been the first dominoes to fall around the faithful, but vetting Mitt Romney as a presidential candidate links the straightforward similarities between Mormonophobia and homophobia."

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