RUBICON

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Rubicon mean? 

• RUBICON (noun)
  The noun RUBICON has 2 senses:

1. the boundary in ancient times between Italy and Gaul; Caesar's crossing it with his army in 49 BC was an act of war

2. a line that when crossed permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment

  Familiarity information: RUBICON used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUBICON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The boundary in ancient times between Italy and Gaul; Caesar's crossing it with his army in 49 BC was an act of war

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Instance hypernyms:

bound; boundary; bounds (the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A line that when crossed permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

point of no return; Rubicon

Hypernyms ("Rubicon" is a kind of...):

contrast; demarcation; dividing line; line (a conceptual separation or distinction)

 Context examples 

A pause—in which I began to steady the palsy of my nerves, and to feel that the Rubicon was passed; and that the trial, no longer to be shirked, must be firmly sustained.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)