martingale
noun, verb
Forms martingales martingaling martingaled martingal
- noun (equestrianism) A piece of harness used on a horse to keep it from raising its head above a desired point.
- noun (nautical) A spar, or piece of rigging that strengthens the bowsprit.
- noun (mathematics) A stochastic process for which the conditional expectation of future values given the sequence of all prior values is equal to the current value. “If a gambler plays a fair game repeatedly, his payoff over time is a martingale.”
- noun (gambling) A strategy in which one doubles the stake after each loss.
- noun (fencing) A strap attached to the sword handle, preventing a sword being dropped if disarmed.
- verb (transitive, gambling) To employ the martingale strategy in gambling.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French martingale, from Occitan martegalo, feminine form of martegal, an inhabitant of Martigues, which is from Latin maritima. Possibly merged with Spanish almártaga. The meaning in gambling may come from an old usage of à la martingale to mean absurdly or foolishly.https://people.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/home/text/class/sem/html/home/notes/martingales/martingales.pdf
Webster’s 1913
- noun A strap fastened to a horse's girth, passing between his fore legs, and fastened to the bit, or now more commonly ending in two rings, through which the reins pass. It is intended to hold down the head of the horse, and prevent him from rearing.
- noun A lower stay of rope or chain for the jib boom or flying jib boom, fastened to, or reeved through, the dolphin striker. Also, the dolphin striker itself.
Etymology [F. martingale; cf. It. martingala a sort of hose, martingale, Sp. martingala a greave, cuish, martingale, Sp. almártaga a kind of bridle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “martingale”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details