tarot
Americannoun
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tarots
plural
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.
See Examples For:
She packed up her two worn decks of tarot cards, some small carved stone figurines and headed for home before the darkness swallowed Old Havana again.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Leigh-Ann Charlotte works at the bookshop as a tarot reader, but was originally a loyal customer.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see that, for the many centuries tarot has existed, the basic composition of decks has remained the same.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Those who care strongly about tarot as most people know it today will be especially drawn to this half of the show.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Astrid is showing a few people paint chips, which she’s lined up in front of her like tarot cards, versions of an apple green she and Donald are considering for the front hallway.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
The tarots can be laid out in several ways to tell fortunes and interpret character; one method sets them in the form of a cross, another in an outline of a "tree of life."
From Time Magazine Archive
So are the cards, the so-called Marseille tarots first printed in the 18th century.
From Time Magazine Archive
But the oldest playing cards, those used in the jeu de tarots, have a marked analogy in their form, their designs, their size, their number, with the cards which the Chinese make use of.
From Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China During the years 1844-5-6. Volume 1 [of 2] by Evariste Regis Huc
The Italians have also in use long cards, called tarots, which, however, must not be confounded with the French cards called tarotees, with odd figures on them, and used by fortune-tellers.
From The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims Volume II (of II) by Andrew Steinmetz
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