cross the Rubicon

English

Etymology

Refers to Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon River to wage civil war with Rome, on January 10, 49 BC, in violation of law. Suetonius' use of the phrase the die is cast in describing this act popularised the use of that phrase, which was first attributed to the Greek dramatist Menander.

Pronunciation

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Verb

cross the Rubicon (third-person singular simple present crosses the Rubicon, present participle crossing the Rubicon, simple past and past participle crossed the Rubicon)

1. (idiomatic) To make an irreversible decision or to take an action with consequences.

   He knew that by coming out to his family he would be crossing the Rubicon but he could not live a lie anymore.

Derived terms

• rubicon

Translations

to make an irreversible decision

• Afrikaans: die Rubicon oorsteek
• Catalan: passar el Rubicó
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 破釜沉舟 (zh) (pòfǔchénzhōu)

• Dutch: de Rubicon oversteken
• Esperanto: transiri Rubikonon
• Finnish: ottaa ratkaiseva askel, ylittää Rubicon
• French: franchir le Rubicon (fr), passer le Rubicon (fr)
• Galician: cruzar o Rubicón
• German: den Rubikon überschreiten (de)
• Greek: διαβαίνω τον Ρουβίκωνα (diavaíno ton Rouvíkona), περνώ τον Ρουβίκωνα (pernó ton Rouvíkona)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: taka örlagaríka ákvörðun
• Italian: passare il Rubicone, il dado è tratto, bruciarsi i ponti alle spalle
• Kyrgyz: Рубиконду өтүү (Rubikondu ötüü)
• Polish: przekroczyć Rubikon (pl)
• Portuguese: atravessar o Rubicão
• Russian: перейти́ Рубикон (ru) (perejtí Rubikon)
• Serbo-Croatian: прећи Рубикон (preći Rubikon)
• Spanish: pasar el Rubicón
• Swedish: övergå Rubicon, gå över Rubicon, korsa Rubicon

See also

• burning boats
• burn one's bridges
• point of no return
• the die is cast