domino

Etymology

1801, borrowed from French domino (1771), originally the term for a hooded garment, itself from Medieval Latin domino, oblique case of dominus (“lord, master”); compare Medieval Latin dominicale (“a kind of veil”).

noun

1. (dominoes) A tile divided into two squares, each having 0 to 6 (or sometimes more) dots or pips (as in dice), used in the game of dominoes.
2. (politics) A country that is expected to react to events in a neighboring country, according to the domino effect.
3. A masquerade costume consisting of a hooded robe and a mask covering the upper part of the face.
   all the women were desirous of having the bundle immediately opened; which operation was at length performed by little Betsy, with the consent of Mr Jones: and the contents were found to be a domino, a mask, and a masquerade ticket. 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 485
   Then he hunted for the black carnival domino, supposing that it was the appropriate thing for a penitent to wear. 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 1007
4. The mask itself.
   He wore a domino, but beneath it could be seen his whiskers, cut after the English fashion, and long and pendent. 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009
5. The person wearing the costume.
6. (geometry) A polyomino made up of two squares.
7. (music, colloquial) A mistake in performing.
   Any player is liable to make a 'domino' — that is to say, he goes wool-gathering and continues to play when everyone else has stopped. If he does so at a grown-up concert the fault is irredeemable […] 1932, The Musical Times and Singing-class Circular, page 263

verb

1. (intransitive) To collapse in the manner of dominoes.
   A dismasting often means the dominoing of one mast into the other, down through the decks, cannoning the cargo through the hull below, and sinking the ship very quickly. 2010, Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey, page 107
2. (transitive) To cause to collapse in the manner of dominoes.