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. cross the Rubicon or pass the Rubicon
   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.

Notes

“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.

More idioms and phrases containing Rubicon

see cross the rubicon .

Example Sentences

Warren Elliott had gone out for a walk on Friday in a familiar area in Rubicon Springs, but went the wrong way coming back, Placer County officials said.

From Los Angeles Times

Much of the search focused on the Rubicon trail, a 22-mile route in the Sierra Nevada, west of Lake Tahoe.

From Los Angeles Times

In Vaulted’s case, Frontier, along with Rubicon Carbon, count among the company’s first carbon credit customers, rather than seed funders.

From Salon

This Rubicon of sorts — borrowing together — broke new ground, and arguably prevented the collapse of the E.U. into a deeper and longer recession.

From New York Times

“Once we get to that point, that is certainly, we would have crossed the Rubicon. Is that a red line? Almost certainly it's going to be a red line.”

From BBC