Origin of the word "Tarot"?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Bluemanticore	17 Dec 2003
Reading another thread about the pronounciation of the word "Tarot" has me wondering where did this word originate from? And does it have a meaning?

patter	17 Dec 2003
nobody really knows. One suggestion is that it comes from turuq meaning "four ways."

Imagemaker	17 Dec 2003
In Rachel Pollack's book, 78 Degrees of Wisdom, she says that the cards were designed in the 15th century for an Italian card game named tarocchi and that the French later called that game tarot. It sounds like the cards and the name evolved together.

jmd	17 Dec 2003
I think it was either Huck or Ross Caldwell which mentioned that Italian words which end in similar ways to 'tarocchi' tend to be Italian versions of originally French words, so it may be the other way around. My personal view is that the word - not necessarily the provenance of the deck - comes from the French to describe a game which was played in what is now northern Italy, but also happened to be, at the time after French incursions into this part of the world, the French department of 'Taro' (named after the river Taro inthe area). The cards came to be known as 'le Jeux de Taraux' (spelling not being standardised), which simply means 'the game from Taro'. With time, this word became standardised and acquired other related meanings (such as the various wonderful associations esoteric and occultist investigations have proposed). That it has come to be standardised as 'TAROT' has such wealth of insights, of inner wisdom, in itself. ...how wonderful the workings of the spiritual realm!!!

Diana	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by jmd I think it was either Huck or Ross Caldwell which mentioned that Italian words which end in similar ways to 'tarocchi' tend to be Italian versions of originally French words, so it may be the other way around. So that's why my dictionary gave me dates that confused me! (The French word "tarot" predates the Italian word "tarocchi", according to the dictionary). A cloud lifts from my brain.

TemperanceAngel	17 Dec 2003
jmd, what century are we talking about? Actually, rather YOU were talking about in your post? XTAX

patter	18 Dec 2003
yes it comes from tarocchi -- but that still doesn't give the base etymology of the word?

The Origin of the word "Tarot"? thread was originally posted on 17 Dec 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.