tarot
Americannoun
noun
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one of a special pack of cards, now used mainly for fortune-telling, consisting of 78 cards (4 suits of 14 cards each (the minor arcana), and 22 other cards (the major arcana))
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a card in a tarot pack with distinctive symbolic design, such as the Wheel of Fortune
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tarot
1590–1600; back formation from taros (plural) < Middle French < Italian tarocchi, plural of tarocco
Explanation
Tarot cards are used for fortune telling and playing card games. Many people believe that a tarot reading will give them special insight into the future — but other people believe that fortune telling is bunk. A deck of tarot cards has four suits, usually swords, cups, coins, and wands, plus 21 trump cards. These cards include The Fool, The Lovers, Death, and Justice. During a tarot reading, cards are dealt from a shuffled deck and placed in a certain pattern. The placement and order of each card gives it a specific significance and meaning. Beyond its Italian source, the origin of the word tarot remains a mystery.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The high-society nature of tarot is reflected in the opulent materials used in making the cards and in the depictions of the people on them, who don finery and engage in courtly activities.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
Beyond a purely aesthetic consideration, the exhibition is an engrossing seminar on every aspect of tarot.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
“You Must Be Here for the Reading” uses tarot as a means to bring some structure to our often disconnected lives.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
“What’s drawn me to tarot is the way it’s built on symbolism and the way that symbolism is embedded in the collective unconscious,” Wicks says.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
“Do you mean you read the tarot, Miss Martin?” he asks.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
