backgammon
pronunciation
How to pronounce backgammon in British English:
UK [ˈbækgæmən]
How to pronounce backgammon in American English:
US [ˈbækˌɡæmən]
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- Noun:
- a board game for two players; pieces move according to throws of the dice
Word Origin
- backgammon
- backgammon: [17] Backgammon appears to mean literally ‘back game’, although the reason for the name is far from clear (gammon had been used since at least the early 18th century for a particular type of victory in the game, but it is hard to say whether the term for the victory came from the term for the game, or vice versa). Either way, gammon represents Old English gamen, the ancestor of modern English game. The game backgammon goes back far further than the 17th century, of course, but before that it was called tables in English.=> game
- backgammon (n.)
- 1640s, baggammon, the second element from Middle English gamen, ancestor of game; the first element apparently because pieces sometimes are forced to go "back." Known 13c.-17c. as tables.
Example
- 1. The board on which backgammon is played .
- 2. Naci was playing backgammon with the imam from the local mosque .
- 3. Put down the chair , the backgammon goes here .
- 4. You met him playing backgammon ?
- 5. France and germany don 't mandate the playing of boules or backgammon today .