the die is cast

English
WOTD – 17 October 2022

Etymology

Calque of Latin iacta ālea est, a grammatically, and thereby semantically, incorrect translation by the Roman historian Suetonius (c. 69 – p. 122 C.E.) in his work Vīta Dīvī Iūlī (On the Life of the Caesars, 121 C.E.)[1] of the Ancient Greek ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhíphthō kúbos), which was said to have been spoken by Julius Caesar (100 – 44 B.C.E.) when he crossed the Rubicon to irreversibly begin a civil war in the Roman Republic (see cross the Rubicon).[2]

Caesar was quoting from the comedy Ἀρρηφόρῳ (Arrhēphórōi, The Bearer of Ritual Objects)[3] by the dramatist Menander (c. 342 or 341 – c. 290 B.C.E.). The Greek phrase is more accurately translated as “let the die be cast” (meaning “let the game be played” and implying “let us proceed irreversibly”), and refers a game of chance in which the outcome is determined by the throwing of dice or a single die.

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ðə ˌdaɪ ɪz ˈkɑːst/
  • (Northern England) IPA(key): /ðə ˌdaɪ ɪz ˈkast/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ðə ˌdaɪ ɪz ˈkæst/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɑːst, -æst

Phrase

the die is cast

  1. (idiomatic) Conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner; the point of no return has been passed; the future is determined; there are no more options.
    Synonyms: genie is out of the bottle, les jeux sont faits, you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, you can't unring a bell

Coordinate terms

Translations

See also

References
  1. Suetonius (1914) “Book I. The Deified Julius.”, in J[ohn] C[arew] Rolfe, transl., Lives of the Caesars (Loeb Classical Library; 31), volume I, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →DOI, →OCLC, paragraph XXXII, pages 76–77: “Tunc Caesar: ‘Eatur,’ inquit, ‘quo deorum ostenta et inimicorum iniquitas vocat. Iacta ālea est,’ inquit. ― Then [Julius] Caesar cried: ‘Take we the course which the signs of the gods and the false dealing of our foes point out. The die is cast,’ said he.”
  2. Plutarch (1917) chapter 60, in Bernadotte Perrin, transl., Plutarch’s Lives. […], volumes V (Agesilaus and Pompey, Pelopidas and Marcellus), Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, paragraph 2, lines 8–10, lines 8–10: “Ἑλληνιστὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἐκβοήσας, ‘Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος,’ διεβίβαζε τὸν στρατόν. ― He [Caesar] declared in Greek with loud voice to those who were present: ‘Let the die be cast’, and led the army across.”
  3. The play exists only in fragmentary form. It is quoted in Δειπνοσοφισταί (Deipnosophistaí, The Dinner Sophists, 3rd century C.E.) by the Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis (fl. late 2nd century – early 3rd century C.E.): “Δεδογμένον τὸ πρᾶγμ’ · ἀνερρίφθω κύβος [The thing has been arranged; let the die be cast]”: see Athénéé [i.e., Athenaeus] (1789) “Livre [Book] XIII”, in [Jean Baptiste] Lefebvre de Villebrune, transl., Banquet des Savans, […], volume IV, Paris: Chez Lamy, […], →OCLC, paragraph 8.

Further reading
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