poker

poker · noun, verb¹

From poke + -er.

poker · noun, verb²

1. French · derived frompoque
2. German · derived frompochen
3. German · derived fromPochspiel
4. English todaypoker

American English, perhaps from first element of German Pochspiel, from German pochen, perhaps from French poque. First appeared in the 19th century.

poker · noun³

Compare Danish pokker (“the deuce, devil”), and English puck.

First known use, by meaning

• from earlier 16th c. A metal rod, generally of wrought iron, for adjusting the burning logs or coals in a fire; a firestick.
• from earlier 19th c. Any of various card games in which, following each of one or more rounds of dealing or revealing cards, the players in sequence make tactical bets or drop out, the bets forming a pool to be taken either by the sole remaining player or, after all rounds and bets have been completed, by those remaining players who hold a superior hand according to a standard ranking of hand values for the game.