Etymology
From Arabic اَلزَّهْر (az-zahr, “the dice”). The "loss" meaning derives from the habit of game players to yell out the game's name whenever a losing number came out. Doublet of azzardo.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): */ˈd͡za.ra/
- Rhymes: -ara
- Hyphenation: zà‧ra
Noun
zara f (plural zare)
- (historical, games) a medieval game of chance using dice
1321, Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Purgatorio (paperback), Bompiani, published 2001, Canto VI, lines 1–3:Quando si parte il gioco de la zara, ¶ colui che perde si riman dolente, ¶ repetendo le volte, e tristo impara;- Whene'er is broken up the game of Zara, ¶ he who has lost remains behind despondent, ¶ the throws repeating, and in sadness learns
- (archaic) a negative outcome, loss, defeat
- zara a chi tocca! ― (please add an English translation of this usage example) (literally, “loss to whomever's turn it is [to lose]!”, as in “the losers must accept their loss”)
1478, Luigi Pulci, Morgante, Felice Le Monnier, published 1855, Canto XVIII, page 28:Nè vo’ che tu credessi ch’io mi curi ¶ contro a questo o colui: zara a chi tocca- And never, ever think that I may care whose toes I step on: let the loser pay!
Further reading
- zara in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana