English
backgammon
Backgammon may come from Middle English gamen.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gamenuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1838backgammon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gamenuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1838backgammon
Earliest quotation: 1838, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Keeping up Appearances. […]: “I have borrowed Mrs. Palmer's backgammon-board," said Isabella, whose…”
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *gamaną ‘pleasure, enjoyment, joy’
through Proto-West Germanic *gaman ‘pleasure, fun, amusement, entertainment’
through Old English gamen ‘amusement, game’
Today it means
noun A board game for two players in which each has 15 stones which move between 24 triangular points according to the roll of a pair of dice; the object is to move all of one's pieces around, and bear them off the board.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English gamen / backgammon