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Origin and history of deuce

deuce(n.)

late 15c., dews, "the 2 in dice or cards," also "a roll of 2 in dice" (1510s), from Old French deus (Modern French deux), from Latin duos (nominative duo) "two" (from PIE root *dwo- "two"). The spelling -ce from -s to reflect voiceless pronunciation is as in dice, pence, etc.

The word became a mild oath by 1710, about 50 years after it was first attested in the sense of "bad luck, the devil, etc.," perhaps because two was the lowest score, and probably by similarity to Latin deus and related words meaning "god." According to OED, 16c. Low German had der daus! in the same sense, which perhaps influenced the English form.

In tennis, "a stage of the game in which both players or sides have scored 40, and one must score 2 points to win," 1590s. Deuce coupe is 1940s hot-rodder slang for "souped up two-door car," especially a 1932 Ford. Related: Deuced; deucedly.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to deuce

dice(n.)

plural of die (n.), early 14c., des, dys, plural of dy, altered 14c. to dyse, dyce, and 15c. to dice. "As in pence, the plural s retains its original breath sound, probably because these words were not felt as ordinary plurals, but as collective words" [OED]. Sometimes used as singular 1400-1700. Dice-box "box from which dice are thrown in gaming" is from 1550s.

pence(n.)

late 14c., a contraction of penies, collective plural of penny. Spelling with -ce reflects the voiceless pronunciation (compare dice (n.), deuce, hence). After the introduction of decimal currency in Britain in 1971, it began to be used in singular (one pence).

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Trends of deuce

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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bodice
1560s, oddly spelled plural of body, originally the name of a tight-fitting Elizabethan inner stays or corset, laced in front, covering the torso, worn by women and sometimes men; plural because the body came in two parts which fastened in the middle. For the spelling, compare de
two
"1 more than one, the number which is one more than one; a symbol representing this number;" Old English twa "two," fem. and neuter form of twegen "two" (see twain), from Proto-Germanic *twa (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian twene, twa, Old Norse tveir, tvau, Dutch twee,
pair
mid-13c., paire, "a set of two, two of a kind coupled in use," from Old French paire "pair, couple," and directly from Medieval Latin paria "equals," neuter plural of Latin par (genitive paris) "a pair, counterpart, equal," noun use of par (adj.) "equal, equal-sized, well-matched
exclamation
late 14c., exclamacioun, "a calling or crying aloud; that which is uttered with emphasis or passion, a vehement speech or saying," from Latin exclamationem (nominative exclamatio) "an exclamation" (in rhetoric), "a loud calling or crying out," noun of action from past-participle
course
c. 1300, "onward movement, motion forward, a running in a prescribed direction or over a prescribed distance; path or distance prescribed for a race, a race-course" from Old French cors "course; run, running; flow of a river" (12c.), from Latin cursus "a running; a journey; direc
OK
"all right, correct," 1839, only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c. 1838-9 for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings, such as K.G. for "no go," as if spelled know go; N.C. for enough said (" 'nuff ced"); K.Y. for no use ("know yuse")
fatigue
1660s, "that which causes weariness," from French fatigue "weariness," from fatiguer "to tire" (15c.), from Latin fatigare "to weary, to tire out," originally "to cause to break down," from pre-Latin adjective *fati-agos "driving to the point of breakdown," with first half from O
algorithm
1690s, "Arabic system of computation," from French algorithme, refashioned (under mistaken connection with Greek arithmos "number") from Old French algorisme "the Arabic numeral system" (13c.), from Medieval Latin algorismus, a mangled transliteration of Arabic al-Khwarizmi "nati
banter
"attack with good-humored jokes and jests," 1670s, origin uncertain; said by Swift to be a word from London street slang. Related: Bantered; bantering. The noun, "good-humored ridicule," is from 1680s. The third refinement observable in the letter I send you, consists in the cho

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