the die is cast

Meaning

A conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner; the point of no return has been passed; the future is determined; there are no more options.

Translations

la suerte está echada

les dés sont jetés

il dado è tratto

alea iacta est

de teerling is geworpen

die Würfel sind gefallen

alea

💀

os dados estão lançados

iacta

iacta alea est

ο κύβος ερρίφθη

advienne que pourra

alea jacta est

les jeux sont faits

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ðə ˌdaɪ ɪz ˈkɑːst/

Etymology

Calque of Latin iacta ālea est, which is grammatically, and thereby semantically, an incorrect translation by the Roman historian Suetonius (c. 69 – p. 122 C.E.) in his work Vīta Dīvī Iūlī (On the Life of the Caesars, 121 C.E.) of the Ancient Greek ἀνερρίφθω κύβος (anerrhíphthō kúbos), which was said to have been spoken by Julius Caesar (100 – 44 B.C.E.) when he crossed the Rubicon to irreversibly begin a civil war in the Roman Republic (see cross the Rubicon).
Caesar was quoting from the comedy Ἀρρηφόρῳ (Arrhēphórōi, The Bearer of Ritual Objects) by the dramatist Menander (c. 342 or 341 – c. 290 B.C.E.). The Greek phrase is more accurately translated as “let the die be cast” (meaning “let the game be played” and implying “let us proceed irreversibly”), and refers a game of chance in which the outcome is determined by the throwing of dice or a single die.