Etymology

domino

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Today it means: A tile divided into two squares, each having 0 to 6 (or sometimes more) dots or pips (as in dice), used in the game of dominoes. Full definition →

First used c. 1800French domino ← Medieval Latin domino
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The story

  1. Medieval Latin · derived fromdomino
  2. French · borrowed fromdomino
  3. English todaydomino

1801, borrowed from French domino (1771), originally the term for a hooded garment, itself from Medieval Latin domino, oblique case of dominus (“lord, master”); compare Medieval Latin dominicale (“a kind of veil”). By surface analysis, di- + -omino.

First known use, by meaning

  • from c. 1800 A tile divided into two squares, each having 0 to 6 (or sometimes more) dots or pips (as in dice), used in the game of dominoes.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.