Trump (card games)

[2] The first known example of such cards was ordered by the Duke of Milan around 1420 and included 16 trumps with images of Greek and Roman gods.

[5] The English word trump derives from trionfi, a type of 15th-century Italian playing cards, from the Latin triumphus "triumph, victory procession", ultimately (via Etruscan) from Greek θρίαμβος, the term for a hymn to Dionysus sung in processions in his honour.

Still, in the 15th century, the French game triomphe (Spanish triunfo) used four suits, one of which was randomly selected as trumps.

The English word is first documented in 1529 as the name of a card game which would develop into Ruff and Honours and ultimately Whist.

[7] In French, triomphe remained the name of the game, while the trump suit was called atout, from à tout (as it were "all-in").

Surviving examples include Swiss Kaiserspiel, German Bruus and Knüffeln and Danish Styrivolt.

The exact style and rendering of these characters is left up to font, since tarot decks vary widely.