the die is cast

English

Etymology

From games of chance in which the outcome is determined by the throwing of dice or a single die. Popularized by its use by Suetonius when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon to begin a civil war in the Roman Republic, indicating the commission of an irreversible act, whence also cross the Rubicon.

The form “the die is cast” is from the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin iacta ālea est, a grammatically, and thereby semantically, incorrect translation by Suetonius, 121 C.E., of the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek phrase of Menander ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhíphthō kúbos), which Caesar quoted in Greek (not Latin). The Greek translates rather as “let the die be cast!”, or “let the game be ventured!”.

Historical details

“The die is cast” is a literal translation of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin iacta ālea est, as quoted in Suetonius, Vīta Dīvī Iūlī (The Life of the deified Julius), 121 C.E., par. 33: Caesar […] “Iacta ālea est”, inquit. Caesar said […] “The die is cast”. Originally stated by Caesar in (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek as ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhíphthō kúbos), as reported by Plutarch: Ἑλληνιστὶ πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας ἐκβοήσας, “Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος”, διεβίβαζε τὸν στρατόν. Hellēnistì pròs toùs paróntas ekboḗsas, “Anerrhíphthō kúbos”, diebíbaze tòn stratón. He [Caesar] declared in Greek with loud voice to those who were present: “Let the die be cast”, and led the army across. Caesar in turn was quoting Menander, his favorite Greek comic dramatist, specifically Ἀρρηφόρῳ (Arrhēphórōi, “The Flute-Girl”), as quoted in Deipnosophistae, Book 13, par. 8.

Pronunciation

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Phrase

the die is cast

1. (idiomatic) The future is determined; there are no more options; events will proceed in an irreversible manner; the point of no return has been passed.

Coordinate terms

• cross the Rubicon
• les jeux sont faits

Translations

the future is determined

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: zortea botata dago
• Breton: taolet eo an diñs
• Bulgarian: зарът е хвърлен (zarǎt e hvǎrlen)
• Catalan: s'ha tirat el dau, el dau ha estat tirat, la sort ha sigut llançada
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 骰子已經擲出去了／骰子已经掷出去了, 骰子已经掷出去了 (tóuzi yǐjīng zhì chūqù le)

• Czech: kostky byly vrženy, kostky jsou vrženy
• Danish: terningen er kastet
• Dutch: de teerling is geworpen (nl)
• Esperanto: la sorto estas ĵetita, la ĵetkubo estas ĵetita
• Estonian: liisk on langenud
• Finnish: arpa on heitetty
• French: le sort en est jeté (fr), les dés sont jetés (fr), advienne que pourra (fr), les jeux sont faits (fr), alea jacta est (fr)
• Galician: a sorte foi botada, a sorte está botada
• Georgian: კამათელი გაგორებულია (ḳamateli gagorebulia)
• German: die Würfel sind gefallen (de)
• Greek: ο κύβος ερρίφθη (o kývos errífthi)

  Ancient: ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhíphthō kúbos)

• Hungarian: a kocka el van vetve (hu)
• Icelandic: teningnum er kastað, teningunum er kastað
• Italian: il dado è tratto
• Japanese: 賽は投げられた (ja) (さいはなげられた, sai wa nagerareta)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 주사위는 던져졌다 (jusawineun deonjeojeotda)
• Kurdish:
• Latin: ālea iacta est, iacta ālea est
• Macedonian: коцката е фрлена (kockata e frlena)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: terningen er kastet

  Nynorsk: terningen er kasta

• Persian: تاس‌ها پرتاب شده‌اند (tâs-hâ partâb šodé-and)
• Polish: kości zostały rzucone (pl), literally: "kostka jest rzucona"
• Portuguese: os dados estão lançados, a sorte está lançada
• Romanian: zarul este aruncat
• Russian: жре́бий бро́шен (žrébij bróšen)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ко̏цка је бачена

  Roman: kȍcka je bačena

• Slovak: kocky sú hodené
• Slovene: kọ̑cka je padla
• Spanish: la suerte está echada
• Swedish: tärningen är kastad (sv)
• Turkish: zar atıldı
• Ukrainian: гральну кістку кинуто (hralʹnu kistku kynuto), жереб кинуто (žereb kynuto)
• Vietnamese: tương lai tiền định