Lexic.us

Definition of Rubicon

1. Noun. The boundary in ancient times between Italy and Gaul; Caesar's crossing it with his army in 49 BC was an act of war.

2. Noun. A line that when crossed permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment.

Definition of Rubicon

1. n. A small river which separated Italy from Cisalpine Gaul, the province alloted to Julius Cæsar.

Definition of Rubicon

1. Proper noun. (rivers) An ancient Latin name for a small river in northern Italy which flows into the Adriatic Sea. It marked the boundary between the Roman province of Gaul and the Roman heartland. Its crossing by Julius Caesar in 49 BC began a civil war. ¹

2. Noun. A limit that when exceeded, or an action that when taken, cannot be reversed. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Rubicon

1. to defeat in piquet [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Rubicon

1. A small river which separated Italy from Cisalpine Gaul, the province alloted to Julius Caesar. By leading an army across this river, contrary to the prohibition of the civil government at Rome, Caesar precipitated the civil war which resulted in the death of Pompey and the overthrow of the senate; hence, the phrase to pass or cross the Rubicon signifies to take the decisive step by which one is committed to a hazardous enterprise from which there is no retreat. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Rubicon

rubescence rubescences rubescent rubiaceae rubiaceous rubiaceous plant rubiacin rubian rubianic rubianic acid

rubible rubican rubicelle rubicelles rubicline rubicon (current term) rubiconed rubicons rubicose rubicund

rubicundities rubicundity rubidian rubidic rubidine rubidium rubidium-strontium dating rubidium oxide rubidium radioisotopes rubidiums

Literary usage of Rubicon

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Life and Writings of Thomas Paine by Thomas Paine, Daniel Edwin Wheeler (1908)
"PROSPECTS ON THE rubicon: OR AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES ... Fortunately for England, she is yet on the peaceable side of the rubicon; ..."

2. The Lake of the Sky, Lake Tahoe, in the High Sierras of California and by George Wharton James (1915)
"The rubicon Springs were originally discovered and located upon by the ... Thus it was they discovered rubicon. In 1869 they located upon 160 acres, ..."

3. The Canarian by Pierre Bontier, Jean Le Verrier, Richard Henry Major (1872)
"... turned vigorously upon them, rescued him with great difficulty, and carried him back to the castle of rubicon. CHAPTER XXXIII.—How the King escaped from ..."

4. The Historians' History of the World: A Comprehensive Narrative of the Rise by Henry Smith Williams (1904)
"... THK RUBIcON C^ESAR CROSSES THE rubicon On the other side all the other forces of Rome, the legions in Spain, the state treasure, the fleet, ..."

5. A New Dictionary of Quotations from the Greek, Latin, and Modern Languages (1869)
"Routinier. Fr.—"A man of business habits: a man whose SOLE recommendation is his regularity as a man of business." rubicon. Lat.—The "rubicon" is a ..."

6. Concerning the Forefathers: Being a Memoir, with Personal Narrative and by Charlotte Reeve Conover (1902)
"Therefore in the spring of 1840 the Pattersons moved from the Jefferson Street house to the rubicon farm, and this continued to be the family home through ..."

7. The United States Speaker: a Copious Selection of Exercises in Elocution by John Epy Lovell (1846)
"'Twas that made Caesar pause upon the brink of the rubicon. Compassion ! What compassion! ... What was the rubicon ? The boundary of Caesar's province. ..."

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