Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "casino" come from? It comes from Italian casa, passing through Italian before entering English (1700s-1800s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "casino" come from? It comes from Italian casa, passing through Italian before entering English (1700s-1800s).
Casino’s story begins in Italian: casa meant “house.” Within Italian, it grew into casino by 1700s. A diminutive meaning "a little house", used for social clubs and gambling houses. It reached English by 1700s-1800s as casino. Italian 'little house', a summer house or club; Venice's Ridotto (1638) was an early gambling house. Today, casino means a public building or room used for gambling.
- Stage 1 · Italian · medieval casa "house", meaning "house".
- Stage 2 · Italian · 1700s casino "a small house; a gambling club", a diminutive meaning "a little house", used for social clubs and gambling houses.
- Stage 3 · English · 1700s-1800s casino "a public building for gambling", Italian 'little house', a summer house or club; Venice's Ridotto (1638) was an early gambling house.