Etymograph

English

deuce

Deuce comes from Middle English dewes ‘two’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwóh₁‘two’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*duō‘two’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEduo‘two’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400deus‘two’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dewes‘two’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1934deuce

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwóh₁‘two’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*duō‘two’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEduo‘two’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400deus‘two’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dewes‘two’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1934deuce

Earliest quotation: 1934, Collier's: “Lend me a deuce until next week, will ya?”

The story

The word was used by Ford Motor Co. in 1932 to describe a two-seater car model.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ‘two’

two, doubt, vice, twin, defeat, binary, vicious, diplomacy, twain, bis, disparate, twig, biceps, binocular, betwixt, 20 more

through Proto-Italic *duō ‘two’

duet, duality, 1 more

through Latin duo ‘two’

dual, duo, dubious, bes, 1 more

Another origin of deuce

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dyew-‘sky, heaven’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*deywós‘god’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*deiwos‘god, deity’reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEdeivos
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdeus‘god, deity’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400same form‘God’
  7. Englishtodaydeuce

Today it means

noun A card with two pips, one of four in a standard deck of playing cards.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ / deuce

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