Die - dice

In older English the word dice was the plural form of the singular word die, meaning a cube marked with dots used for games of chance. This is the traditional usage that many academics would like to see their students use. Do not say, for example, in a Maths exercise on probability “a dice was thrown.” Properly, it must be “ a die was thrown” or “the dice were thrown.”

In ordinary spoken English, the singular nowadays is usually dice, however incorrect this may seem to pedants.

Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, announced his decision to start a war as “the die is cast” – the usual translation into English of his Latin words alea iacta est. It is now something of a cliché for any decision from which there is no turning back.