Definition of the word backgammon

The word "backgammon" is believed to have originated from the Middle Persian game "tafl," which was popular during the Sassanid dynasty in Persia around the 7th century AD. The Persian word for this game was "nard" or "nardez," which was then adopted into Arabic as "naq al-izz" or "naq al-idz" and eventually translated into Slavic languages as "tablitudez" or "tabla." In the 12th century, "tabla" spread to Europe through the Crusades and was played in two variations: mart anybody and fuseau. The latter eventually became known as "tables," which was then anglicized to "tabellæ" and "tabulae" before settling on "tables" and "taules" in different parts of Europe. The English rendition of the word "taules" was contracted to "tabb," and this evolved into "tab," which is now obsolete except as the root word for "booktab," "cardtab," and "backtab" that refer to the labels on books, cards, and cabinets respectively. In 1530, the game "tauals" was referred to as "taul noblz" in English, which became "noble games" in John Baret's Latin-English dictionary of 1573. The name "backgammon" first appeared in the lexicographic record in Randle Cotgrave's French-English dictionary of 1611, where "baquerel" was translated as "back gammon." The origin of the term "backgammon" is not entirely clear, but it is believed to have been derived from the game's backgammoning or bearing off the pieces, which involves moving all game pieces to the player's home board while bearing them off the board alongside the way. This results in a tactic called "backgammon," in which the opponent bears off one or more pieces before the player can bear off a single piece, leading to immediate defeat.