martingale

See also: Martingale

English

Alternative forms

• martingal

Etymology

From Middle French martingale, from Occitan martegalo, feminine form of martegal, an inhabitant of Martigues, which is from Latin maritima. Alternatively from Spanish alm�rtaga.

The meaning in gambling may come from an old usage of "� la martingale" to mean absurdly, foolishly.[1]

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

martingale (plural martingales)

1. A piece of harness used on a horse to keep it from raising its head above a desired point.
2. (nautical) A spar, or piece of rigging that strengthens the bowsprit.
3. (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.

4. A gambling strategy in which one doubles the stake after each loss.
5. (fencing) A strap attached to the sword handle, preventing a sword being dropped if disarmed.

Synonyms

• (piece of harness): tie-down

Derived terms

• anti-martingale
• submartingale
• supermartingale

Translations

piece of harness

• Catalan: martingala (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: martingal m
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: martingaali (fi)
• French: martingale (fr) f
• German: Martingal n
• Hungarian: martingál
• Irish: iall bhrád f
• Japanese: 鞅 (ja) (むながい, munagai)
• Maori: mātinikera, mātini
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: martingal m

  Nynorsk: martingal m

• Polish: wytok m
• Portuguese: gamarra f
• Russian: мартинга́л (ru) m (martingál)
• Spanish: gamarra f

bowsprit strengthening

• Catalan: martingala (ca) f
• Finnish: vesiharus
• French: martingale (fr) f

a stochastic process relating random variables to earlier values

• Catalan: martingala (ca) f
• French: martingale (fr) f
• Hungarian: martingál

a gambling strategy in which one doubles the stake after each loss

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 纜／缆 (laam^6-2)

• French: martingale (fr) f
• Russian: мартинге́йл (ru) m (martingéjl)

a strap attached to the sword handle, preventing a sword being dropped if disarmed

Verb

martingale (third-person singular simple present martingales, present participle martingaling, simple past and past participle martingaled)

1. To employ the martingale strategy in gambling.
   • 2012, Frank Scoblete, Casino Conquest:

     The Russians were both martingaling it—doubling their bets when they lost.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

martingale f (plural martingales)

1. martingale

Further reading

• “martingale”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Noun

martingale f

1. plural of martingala

Anagrams

• lagrimante, matrignale