Dominoes
Tile-based games played with pieces marked with spots or blanks.
Last updated
Carlos ZGZ from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0
Dominoes are rectangular tiles, normally twice as long as they are wide, divided into two square ends each marked with a number of spots or pips.[1] The earliest known mention of domino tiles comes from 13th-century Song dynasty China.[2][3] The earliest known mention of dominoes is from Song dynasty China, found in the text Former Events in Wulin by Zhou Mi (1232–1298).[2]
Making and release
Modern commercial domino sets are usually made of synthetic materials such as ABS or polystyrene plastics, or Bakelite and other phenolic resins.[4] Some sets use a different color for the dots of each end value to help players find matching ends.[4] Occasionally, domino sets are made of card stock, making them lightweight, compact, and inexpensive.[4] The spinner was originally used to hold two separate layers of a domino together, often one ebony and the other ivory.[5]
Spinners are not found in Chinese dominoes because they would prevent the tiles from being stacked squarely.[5] Dominoes can come in a variety of sizes, including Standard, Mini, Professional, Jumbo, Tournament, and Giant sizes.[5]
What the cited sources add
A 2021 Portico Library article notes that dominoes have been used for divination across the African diaspora, including in Hoodoo, alongside the reading of cowrie shells and bones.[6] The same source describes domino reading as involving blessing the dice and having the seeker select a number of dominoes randomly.[6] A BBC News article from 2022 states that dominoes is recognized as an "ingrained cultural activity within the Caribbean" and is popular with the Windrush generation in the UK.[7][8] The same source states that dominoes can be used to play card-game-style games, including adaptations and games specifically designed for dominoes.[9]
According to pagat.com, Western dominoes are thought to have originated from 12th-century dominoes, but the exact relationship is unclear.[9] The Portico Library article notes that an 1801 book, Sports and Pastimes of the People of England by Joseph Strutt, described dominoes as "a very childish sport, imported from France a few years back".[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Dominoes" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hoffman, "Hoyle's Games Modernized", Routledge, 1909 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dominoes" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lo, Andrew. "The Game of Leaves: An Inquiry into the Origin of Chinese Playing Cards," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Lon; Earliest record in L’Avantcoureur, 1st April 1762. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dominoes" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lo, Andrew. "The Game of Leaves: An Inquiry into the Origin of Chinese Playing Cards," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Lon; Lo, Andrew. "The Game of Leaves: An Inquiry into the Origin of Chinese Playing Cards," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Lon; Lo, Andrew. "The Game of Leaves: An Inquiry into the Origin of Chinese Playing Cards," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Lon; <span lang="zh">乔光辉、郭威、王骏</span>, <span lang="zh">《中华文化论坛》2009年 en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dominoes" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "General Western Domino Attributes" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "General Western Domino Attributes". facts only, no text reused. domino-play.com
- "De Bones", The Portico Library, 19 March 2021. facts only, no text reused. theportico.org.uk
- "Dominoes tournament brings communities together for Windrush Day", BBC News, 2022-06-22. facts only, no text reused. bbc.com
- Wikipedia, "Dominoes" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dominoes tournament brings communities together for Windrush Day", BBC News, 2022-06-22 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Domino Games", pagat.com. facts only, no text reused. pagat.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Dominoes (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Dominoes (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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