Rubicon

[roo-bi-kon]

noun

1. a river in northern Italy flowing east into the Adriatic. 15 miles (24 km) long: crossed by Julius Caesar when he marched against Rome in 49 b.c.

2. Sometimes rubicon the act that commits someone to a particular course; point of no return.

   Publication serves as a Rubicon for authors, since they will be unable to edit their work afterward.

Rubicon

/ ˈruːbɪkən /

noun

1. a stream in N Italy: in ancient times the boundary between Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. By leading his army across it and marching on Rome in 49 _bc , Julius Caesar broke the law that a general might not lead an army out of the province to which he was posted and so committed himself to civil war with the senatorial party

2. (sometimes not capital) a point of no return

3. a penalty in piquet by which the score of a player who fails to reach 100 points in six hands is added to his opponent's

4. to commit oneself irrevocably to some course of action

Rubicon

1. A river in northern Italy that Julius Caesar crossed with his army, in violation of the orders of the leaders in Rome, who feared his power. A civil war followed, in which Caesar emerged as ruler of Rome. Caesar is supposed to have said, “The die is cast” (referring to a roll of dice), as he crossed the river.

“Crossing the Rubicon” is a general expression for taking a dangerous, decisive, and irreversible step.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Rubicon¹

First recorded in 1610–20

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. cross / pass the Rubicon, to take a decisive, irrevocable step.

   Our entry into the war made us cross the Rubicon and abandon isolationism forever.

see cross the rubicon.

Example Sentences

Organisers of the Rubicon festival in Slovakia announced that the event – planned for next weekend – had been cancelled "due to external pressure and logistical challenges".

From BBC

They were trying to return from popular Emerald Bay to their west side home in midafternoon when eight-foot swells swamped the boat, deadening the engine and capsizing the vessel off rocky Rubicon Point near D.L.

From Los Angeles Times

“There’s this atmospheric Rubicon we have crossed when we say based on vandalism and people throwing things at cars, that can be justification for military roaming our streets,” the lawyer said.

From Los Angeles Times

The true Rubicon that Americans crossed was on the question of torture, or “enhanced interrogation,” in the Bush administration’s Orwellian terminology.

From Salon

But then came the internet, and every piece of useful technology exploded, with the shrapnel extending to the far recesses of the digital Rubicon.

From Salon