deuce

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“
I don't see it, do you The stranger said he didn't and the Georgian went on, now in a lower, confidential voice I actually hearn that this chap,--what the deuce was his name?

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Definitions (18)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (8)

  1. noun A playing card having two spots or the side of a die bearing two pips.
  2. noun A cast of dice totaling two.
  3. noun A tied score in tennis in which each player or side has 40 points, or 5 or more games, and one player or side must win 2 successive points to win the game, or 2 successive games to win the set.
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Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English deus, from Old French, two, from Latin duōs, masculine accusative of duo; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Probably from Low German duus, a throw of two in dice games, bad luck, ultimately from Latin duo, two; see deuce1.

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  1. Also formerly deuse, duce, early modern English also dewce, dewse, from Middle English dewes, deus, from Old French Deus! later Dieux! i. e., God! (used, like modern F. mon Dieu! G. mein Gott! as an ejaculation of sudden emotion or surprise), from Latin deus, voc. of deus, God: see deity. The common derivation from the Celtic (Breton “dus, teuz, a phantom, specter, goblin” Middle Latin “dusius, dæmo apud Gallos”) is without sufficient support. Cf. Low German dūs, duus, G. daus, taus, used like the English word: Low German de duus! G. der daus! the deuce! G. was der daus! what the deuce! dass dich der daus! deuce take you! Cf. Fries, dūs, a goblin (Outzen); Dutch droes, a giant, Low German droos, a lubber, Holstein druuss, a giant, used like dūs; Dutch de droes! Low German de droos! the deuce! Low German dat di de droos slaa! Holstein dat ti de druuss hale! deuce take you! The particular use of the D., Low German, and G. words may be due to association with the Old French word, but they are apparently in origin assimilated and transposed forms, respectively, of the word represented by Old High German durs, duris, thuris, turs, Middle High German durse, dürse, dürsch, also turse, türse, türsch, a giant, demon, = Icelandic thurs (pron. thu̇s), a giant, goblin, dull fellow, = Norwegian tuss, dial, tusse, tust, a goblin, kobold, elf, gnome (tussefolk, elves), also a dull fellow, = Danish tosse, a booby, fool, = Anglo-Saxon thyrs, a giant (whence prob. English thrush in kob-thrush, q. v., a hobgoblin). The giants or goblins of Teutonic mythology, like the gods of classical mythology, became identified in popular thought with the devils or demons of medieval Christianity. Like other words used in colloquial imprecation, deuce has lost definite meaning, and has been subjected (in Low German, G., and Scandinavian) to more or less wilful variation of form and to some mixture with other words. Cf. Low German de duks! equivalent to English the dickens! Low German düker, deuker, deiker, the deuce.
  2. Early modern English also dewce, deus; = Middle Low German dus = Old High German dūs, German daus = Swedish Danish dus, deuce in cards, from Old French deus, dous, F. deux, from Latin duos, accusative of duo = English two, q. v.
 

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