different between rubicon vs rubric

English

Etymology

The noun is derived from the phrase cross the Rubicon (“to make an irreversible decision or to take an action with consequences”). Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon, a small river in northeastern Italy, on 10 January 49 B.C.E., indicated his intention to start a civil war with Pompey. Rubicon is derived from Latin Rubic?, Rubic?n (“the Rubicon”), possibly from rubeus (“red, reddish”), from rube? (“to be red”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h?rewd?- (“red”), an allusion to the colour of the river caused by mud deposits.

The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??u?b?k?n/, /-k(?)n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??ub??k?n/
• Hyphenation: ru?bi?con

Noun

rubicon (plural rubicons)

1. A limit that when surpassed cannot be returned from, or an action that when taken cannot be reversed.

   Synonym: point of no return
2. (card games) Especially in bezique and piquet: a score which, if not achieved by a losing player, increases the player's penalty.

Alternative forms

• Rubicon

Related terms

• cross the Rubicon

Translations

Verb

rubicon (third-person singular simple present rubicons, present participle rubiconing, simple past and past participle rubiconed)

1. (transitive, card games) Especially in bezique and piquet: to defeat a player who has not achieved the rubicon.

Translations

References

Further reading

• Rubicon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Alternative forms

• rubrick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English rubrich, rubrik, from Old French rubrique, from Latin rubr?ca (“red ochre”), the substance used to make red letters, from ruber (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?rewd?-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??u?b??k/

Noun

rubric (plural rubrics)

1. A heading in a book highlighted in red.
2. A title of a category or a class.

   That would fall under the rubric of things we can ignore for now.
3. (Christianity) The directions for a religious service, formerly printed in red letters.
   • 1842, Walter Hook, Church Dictionary

     All the clergy in England solemnly pledge themselves to observe the rubrics.

4. An established rule or custom; a guideline.
   • 1847,Thomas De Quincey, Protestantism (published in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine)

     Nay, as a duty, it had no place or rubric in human conceptions before Christianity.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Cowper to this entry?)

5. (education) A set of scoring criteria for evaluating student work and for giving feedback.
6. A flourish after a signature.
7. Red ochre.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:class

Related terms

• rubricate
• rubicund

Translations

Adjective

rubric (comparative more rubric, superlative most rubric)

1. Coloured or marked with red; placed in rubrics.
2. Of or relating to the rubric or rubrics; rubrical.

Verb

rubric (third-person singular simple present rubrics, present participle rubricking, simple past and past participle rubricked)

1. (transitive) To adorn with red; to redden.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)

Further reading

• rubric in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• rubric in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.