the die is cast

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ðə ˌdaɪ ɪz ˈkɑːst/
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• Northern-England: /ðə ˌdaɪ ɪz ˈkast/
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• General-American: /ðə ˌdaɪ ɪz ˈkæst/
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• rhymes with -ɑːst
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• rhymes with -æst
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Calque of Latin iacta ālea est, which is grammatically, and thereby semantically, an incorrect translation by the Roman historian Suetonius (c. 69 – p. 122 C.E.) in his work Vīta Dīvī Iūlī (On the Life of the Caesars, 121 C.E.) of the Ancient Greek ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhíphthō kúbos), which was said to have been spoken by Julius Caesar (100 – 44 B.C.E.) when he crossed the Rubicon to irreversibly begin a civil war in the Roman Republic (see cross the Rubicon). Caesar was quoting from the comedy Ἀρρηφόρῳ (Arrhēphórōi, The Bearer of Ritual Objects) by the dramatist Menander (c. 342 or 341 – c. 290 B.C.E.). The Greek phrase is more accurately translated as “let the die be cast” (meaning “let the game be played” and implying “let us proceed irreversibly”), and refers a game of chance in which the outcome is determined by the throwing of dice or a single die.

60 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: سبق السيف العذل — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Armenian: վիճակը նետված է (vičakə netvac ē) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Basque: zortea botata dago — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Breton: taolet eo an diñs — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Bulgarian: зарът е хвърлен (zarǎt e hvǎrlen) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Catalan: el dau ha estat tirat — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Catalan: la sort ha sigut llançada — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Catalan: s'ha tirat el dau — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Chinese Mandarin: 骰子已經擲出去了 /骰子已经掷出去了 (tóuzi yǐjīng zhì chūqù le) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Czech: kostky byly vrženy — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Czech: kostky jsou vrženy — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Danish: terningen er kastet — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Dutch: de teerling is geworpen — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Esperanto: la ĵetkubo estas ĵetita — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Esperanto: la sorto estas ĵetita — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Estonian: liisk on langenud — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Finnish: arpa on heitetty — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• French: le sort en est jeté — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• French: les dés sont jetés — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• French: advienne que pourra — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• French: alea jacta est — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• French: les jeux sont faits — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Galician: a sorte está botada — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Galician: a sorte foi botada — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Georgian: კამათელი გაგორებულია (ḳamateli gagorebulia) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• German: die Würfel sind gefallen — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Greek: ο κύβος ερρίφθη (o kývos errífthi) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Ancient Greek: ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhíphthō kúbos) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Hebrew: הַפּוּר נָפַל (hapúr nafál) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Hungarian: a kocka el van vetve — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Icelandic: teningnum er kastað — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Icelandic: teningunum er kastað — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Italian: il dado è tratto — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Japanese: 賽は投げられた (sai wa nagerareta) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Korean: 주사위는 던져졌다 (jusawineun deonjeojeotda) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Northern Kurdish: tîr ji kevan pekiya — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Latin: ālea iacta est — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Latin: iacta ālea est — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Macedonian: коцката е фрлена (kockata e frlena) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Malay: nasi sudah menjadi bubur — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Norwegian Bokmål: terningen er kastet — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Norwegian Nynorsk: terningen er kasta — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Pannonian Rusyn: коцка руцена (kocka rucena) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Persian: تاسها پرتاب شدهاند (tâs-hâ partâb šode-and) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Polish: kości zostały rzucone — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Portuguese: a sorte está lançada — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Portuguese: os dados estão lançados — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Romanian: zarul este aruncat — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Russian: жре́бий бро́шен (žrébij bróšen) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Scottish Gaelic: dè a bhios ann, tachraidh e — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Serbo-Croatian: ко̏цка је бачена — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Serbo-Croatian: kȍcka je bačena — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Slovak: kocky sú hodené — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Slovene: kọ̑cka je padla — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Spanish: la suerte está echada — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Swedish: tärningen är kastad — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Turkish: zar atıldı — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Ukrainian: гральну кістку кинуто (hralʹnu kistku kynuto) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Ukrainian: жереб кинуто (žereb kynuto) — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner
• Vietnamese: tương lai tiền định — a conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner