Aces

How to spell aces

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce aces

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does aces mean?

1. nounMore than one ace, such as the single-pip playing cards or people who are highly skilled at something.
2. verbThird-person singular form of 'ace': to do something extremely well or to pass with top marks.

Aces in a sentence

• noun

  He was dealt two aces in the opening hand of poker.

• verb

  She always aces the final exam without much revision.

• noun

  The squadron's veteran pilots were considered the aces of the air force.

• verb

  He aces every job interview thanks to careful preparation.

Where does aces come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word builds on 'ace', which traces back to the Latin 'as', the name of a small Roman copper coin and, more broadly, of a single unit or whole. From there it came to mean the side of a die marked with a single pip. English picked it up in the 1200s through Old French 'as', still meaning the 'one' on dice or cards, and the playing-card sense followed naturally. Over the centuries 'ace' gathered admiring extra meanings: a skilled fighter pilot, then any expert, and in tennis an unreturnable serve. The plural and verb form simply add the regular '-s', so the spelling holds no real surprises beyond keeping the soft 'c'.

How the word is built

• ace (single point/the one)
• -s (plural or third-person singular)