nerdiludium

Latin

Backgammon players, circa 1305-1315.

Etymology

Compound noun from Classical Persian نَرْد (nard, “dice”) and lūdus (“game”).

Noun

nerdilūdium n (genitive nerdilūdiī); second declension

1. (New Latin) backgammon
   • 1694, Thomas Hyde, Historia Nerdiludii :

     Hæc autem tanta confundendi Nomina licentia inde forte accidit, quia ex Aleæ ſpeciebus ſunt dicti tres Ludi [...]. Hic Ludus linguâ Japonicâ dicitur Sugurótu, Indicâ Sanſcreticâ Dûta, Malaicâ جوج Gjûgjy, Georgianâ ſeu Ibericâ ნარდი Nardi, quod à veteribus Perſis mutuò acceptum eſt. Hic enim Ludus per totum fere Orientem notus eſt antiquo ejuſdem Nomine Perſico نرد Nerd: ideóque nos illum Nerdiludium nominavimus.

     However, there is a great laxity towards confusion as alea can refer to three games. [...] This game is called sugurótu in Japanese, dûta in Sanskrit, gjûgjy in Malay. Also nardi in Georgian, as they borrowed it from ancient Persians —the reason why the game is known in almost all the Orient by its ancient Persian name Nerd. For this latter reason, I have called it nerdiludium.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	nerdilūdium	nerdilūdia
genitive	nerdilūdiī	nerdilūdiōrum
dative	nerdilūdiō	nerdilūdiīs
accusative	nerdilūdium	nerdilūdia
ablative	nerdilūdiō	nerdilūdiīs
vocative	nerdilūdium	nerdilūdia

See also

• scacci (chess)