Nim
/nɪm/noun
A card game in which players take turns removing objects from heaps, and the player who takes the last object wins or loses depending on the variant.
Did you know?Nim became famous in mathematical game theory because its winning strategy can be reduced to binary XOR, turning a simple pile game into a kind of coded logic puzzle.
Etymological Timeline
19th Century
English
nim
“A game of taking objects from heaps, later formalized in combinatorial game theory.”
19th Century
English
nimber
“A mathematical value assigned to positions in impartial games, named after Nim.”
20th Century
English
nim
“The name of the game enters standard mathematical usage and popular recreational mathematics.”
Modern English
English
nim
“A heap-taking strategy game studied in mathematics and played recreationally.”