Rubicon
noun
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In 49 B.C., Julius Caesar led his army to the banks of the Rubicon, a small river that marked the boundary between Italy and Gaul. Caesar knew Roman law forbade a general from leading his army out of the province to which he was assigned. By crossing the Rubicon, he would violate that law. "The die is cast," he said, wading in. That act of defiance sparked a three-year civil war that ultimately left Julius Caesar the undisputed ruler of the Roman world. It also inspired English speakers to adopt two popular sayings -crossing the Rubicon and the die is cast-centuries later. Rubicon has been used in English as the name of a significant figurative boundary since at least the early 1600s.
Examples of Rubicon in a Sentence
Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 10 Jan. 2025
Art delaCruz, the chief executive of Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes veterans and other volunteers to assist after disasters, was at home in Los Angeles when the fires broke out.
—David Gelles, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
The money will be split across the American Red Cross, the L.A. Fire Department Foundation, Team Rubicon and pet rescue organizations sheltering animals displaced by the fires.
—Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2025
It was developed by Rubicon Technologies, and initially Kansas City used it to track its garbage trucks.
—Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 8 Jan. 2025
While no organization likes to lose, the fortune-shifting nature of the NFL Draft creates a Rubicon for the teams that do.
—J.j. Bailey, The Athletic, 5 Jan. 2025
The Jeep Mojave and Rubicon Wranglers are certainly big enough and do whatever Jeep-lover expect as its off-road presence, comfort and abilities top the chart, but the road noise factor always seems to be there.
—Marc D. Grasso, Boston Herald, 5 Dec. 2024
Even before it was done training, OpenAI knew the model was crossing some sort of AI Rubicon.
—Steven Levy, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2024
Heavy metal band Metallica said its nonprofit, the All Within My Hands Foundation, would donate $50,000 each to World Central Kitchen and Team Rubicon to help with first-response efforts for Hurricane Helene.
—Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Rubicon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Rubicon. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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Rubicon
geographical name
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