Whist

/wɪst/ noun

Definition

An old card game played by four players in two partnerships, very popular before poker became common.

Etymology

From 'whisk,' possibly because the game moves quickly, or from the command to be quiet ('hush whist'). Became popular in England in the 1600s.

Kelly Says

Whist was so popular in the 1700s that it spawned entire books of strategy—basically the poker literature of the aristocracy—and shaped how we think about trick-taking card games today.

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