Hearts, Clubs: the origin of the names of playing cards

Video: Hearts, Clubs: the origin of the names of playing cards

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Gambling has been around for centuries, and the cards are perhaps the most famous on this list. However, this does not negate the fact that there are many myths and versions hovering around them regarding the peculiarities of their history and existence. For example, this concerns the origin of the names of the suits.

After all, it's still strange why one of them received a name in honor of a weapon, while the second - from … a worm.

The history of the name of the suits is as interesting as the origin of the cards themselves

In fairness, it should be said that there are several versions as to how exactly the names of the card suits appeared. And one of the most common has to do, oddly enough, to Christianity.

So, it is believed that in religion they have a negative attitude towards cards precisely because the creators of the cards used symbols that were invented by the first believers to denote them. And this was during the late Roman Empire, that is, during the period when Christianity was persecuted by the state.

Someone really thinks that the names of the suits of the cards were "given" by the first Christians

It was then that the first followers of the teachings of Jesus allegedly came up with a special system of signs that symbolized things sacred to them.

So, for example, clubs meant a cross, lances - the centurion Longinus's spear, piercing Christ, tambourines - a stone on which Jesus was laid after taking down from the cross, and hearts, oddly enough - the Holy Grail, because initially they had the appearance not of hearts, but of cups.

In fact, they have nothing to do with Christianity

However, in reality, this version has nothing to do with reality, and gambling in Christianity is not favored simply because it is considered the intrigues of the evil one.

In addition, suits cannot be Christian symbols, because playing cards were invented in China, far from the emergence of this religion, then penetrated into India, then into the Arab peoples, and only from there - into European countries.

According to the official history of this gambling game, the Spaniards were the first to master it, and even before the XIV century - it was then that scientists record the first documented evidence of the existence of cards already in Europe.

The history of the movement of maps around the world is interesting and long

The origin of the suits has not been fully disclosed. That is, historians unambiguously interpret the etymology of their names and symbols, but the reasons why they look exactly like this are very difficult to say hundreds of years later.

Some of the suits are pretty straightforward to explain. So, this refers to the peaks - the most understandable name. Everything is really simple here - both the appearance of the symbol and its name refer us to the famous medieval weapons.

The situation is more interesting with clubs. Many in the post-Soviet expanses believe that this suit originated from the image of the cross - however, it is not a fact that this symbol is attributed to religion in this case.

That is why their other name is "baptism". But in reality, this suit has nothing to do with the cross, but is an image of a three-leaf clover. And it is called so because it came from French decks of cards, and in French clover sounds like "trèfle".

And in the clubs there is not a hint of a cross, it turns out

The tambourines are also not deprived of an entertaining story. However, it is easier to trace it from English. The fact is that there this rhombic symbol is called "diamonds", which means diamonds.

This is because the icon is a two-dimensional image of a crystal. But why then "tambourines"?

And here the reason is in the history of the cards themselves: initially they did not have a clearly defined system of suits and their names, and if now we use the symbols of French decks of the 15th century, then the name of this particular suit came from the German version - there this suit was called "bells".

With tambourines, too, everything turned out pretty funny

But with the remaining suit in the form of a heart, the story is the most unusual. Few would believe it today, but the word "worms" in cards really comes from worms that crawl in the ground.

Although some believe that the etymology originates from the French word "coeur" - heart. To some extent, this took place, but only until the 18th century, when this suit in Russia was really called "kera" and came from that very word.

However, later, the suit began to be called "worms", originating already from the ancient Russian term "scarlet" - painted in red. And the red paint in those days was obtained by grinding cochineal females, which, although they were insects, were called "worm" by analogy with worms.