casino

American  

[kuh-see-noh] / kəˈsi noʊ /

noun

plural

casinos

1. a building or large room used for meetings, entertainment, dancing, etc., especially such a place equipped with gambling devices, gambling tables, etc.

2. (in Italy) a small country house or lodge.

3. Cards. Also cassino a game in which cards that are face up on the table are taken with eligible cards in the hand.

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casino British  

/ kəˈsiːnəʊ /

noun

1. a public building or room in which gaming takes place, esp roulette and card games such as baccarat and chemin de fer

2. a variant spelling of cassino

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Other Word Forms

• subcasino noun

Etymology

Origin of casino

1780–90; < Italian, equivalent to cas(a) “house” + -ino diminutive suffix

Explanation

A casino is a building where people can gamble and play games of chance. Your grandmother might enjoy taking weekend bus trips to the nearest casino with her friends. Many casinos are near — or inside — hotels, and include opportunities to dine, drink, and shop. The main event at a casino, however, is the chance to gamble either by betting money on games like blackjack or poker, or by putting coins in a slot machine. Casino is also the name of a card game. The word comes from the Italian casa, or "house." In the 1800s casino came to mean "building for aristocratic gambling."

Example Sentences

The company that has held the license for a casino attached to Baima Park didn’t respond to requests for comment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

The court heard Cassidy also spent £2,400 on a council tax bill; £2,200 on artificial grass at her business partner's home; £1,300 at designer tailors Forbes; and £800 at Glasgow's Corinthian's casino.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

And, as with any casino, the house had the advantage, the biggest being margin lending.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

The Seminole Police Department said in a statement that officers responded to an incident in the valet area of the hotel and casino shortly after 7 p.m.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026

An understanding of expected values is helpful in analyzing most casino games, as well as the lesser- known game of chuck-a-luck which is played at carnivals in the Midwest and England.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos