Ace

This article is about the playing card. For alternate uses of the word see Ace (disambiguation). For abbreviations with the same spelling, see ACE.

The word "ace" comes from the Old French word 'as' (from Latin 'as') meaning 'a unit', from the name of a small Roman coin. It originally meant the side of a die with only one mark, before it was a term for a playing card. Since this was the lowest roll of the die, it traditionally meant 'bad luck' in Middle English, but as the ace is often the highest playing card, its meaning has changed to mean 'high-quality, excellence'.

An ace is a playing card. In the standard deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the case of the Ace of Spades, which also often bears the name or emblem of the deck's printer. In most card games, aces have the highest value of all cards in a suit; in some, they have the lowest value, commonly representing a one. Many games, such as poker and blackjack, allow the player to choose whether the ace is used as a high or low card. When aces are high, spades are occasionally deemed to be trump cards, meaning that if it came down to a tie, the ace of spades would naturally win.

The tradition of "ace high" comes from the French Revolution where the lowest number card (the one or ace) was changed to the highest card in the deck to represent the victory of the common man over King Louis XVI.

In French decks, the ace commonly has "1"'s in the corners instead of the letter "A".

Example cards

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ACE

Computing

• ACE (editor), a multi-platform collaborative editor
• ACE (file format), a data compression and archiving format
• The ACE ORB, TAO, a free CORBA implementation
• Adaptive Communication Environment, an open-source cross-platform framework of object oriented classes to help the development of communication software
• Agent-Based Computational Economics, the computational study of economic processes modeled as dynamic systems of interacting agents
• Advanced Computing Environment, a defunct computer initiative to define a "new PC" based on MIPS CPUs instead of Intel x86
• Automatic Computing Engine, a 1952 British computer
• ASCII Compatible Encoding, in the context of internationalized domain name
• ACE (software), virtualisation software from VMware
• ACE Workbench Foundation, a web portal framework in use at UBS AG

Finance

• Adjusted Current Earnings (ACE), part of the computation for Alternative Minimum Tax in the US federal income tax system

Languages

• Attempto Controlled English (ACE), a freely usable controlled natural language
• ACE, the ISO 639 code for the Acehnese language

Chemicals

• Acetylcholine esterase
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme, targeted by ACE inhibitors, a common treatment for heart attack patients
• ACE inhibitors pharmaceuticals that are used primarily in treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure

Entertainment

• ACE (games magazine)
• Another Century's Episode, a 2005 video game for the PlayStation 2
• American Coaster Enthusiasts, an organization dedicated to the enjoyment and preservation of roller coasters

Transportation

• Advanced Compatibility Engineering, a Honda Motor Company auto body design marketing name
• Advanced Composition Explorer, a NASA satellite launched in 1997
• Altamont Commuter Express, a commuter train service in the San Francisco Bay Area connecting Stockton with San Jose
• M9 Armored Combat Earthmover, a highly mobile armored tracked vehicle that provides combat engineer support to front-line forces
• Atlantic City Expressway, a toll road connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley region with Atlantic City, New Jersey
• Atlantic Coast Express, a named express passenger train in England, during the days of steam
• American Coal Enterprises, a mid-'80s consortium that wanted to build modern steam locomotives

Groups

• ACE Ltd., the ACE group of companies
• ACE Aviation Holdings, the parent company of Air Canada
• Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, a parachurch organization based in the United States
• American College of Epidemiology
• American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that provides fitness certification and education
• Arts Council England
• American Cinema Editors, an honorary society of film editors
• Association for Consciousness Exploration, an American organization that sponsors the annual Starwood Festival
• Association of Latin Entertainment Critics (Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York in Spanish), an American organization that awards the LatinACE (PremiosACE) entertainment awards
• Astronaute Club Européen, a French association to promote private space flight
• Australian Centre for Egyptology, an organization established to coordinate Australian excavation efforts in Egypt with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities
• Agency for Cycling Ethics, new initiative for drug-free professional cycling Bob Stapleton/High Road Sports

Other

• Accelerated Christian Education, a Bible-based educational curriculum for preschool through high school students (also known as "Accelerated Christian Learning")
• Accumulated cyclone energy, a measure used to express the activity of hurricane seasons
• Arrecife Airport in Spain, from its IATA airport code
• Advanced cervical effacement, an obstetric term
• ACE Awards, later renamed to the CableACE Awards
• Anchor, Constitution, Eagle the unofficial emblem of the United States Navy

See also

• Ace (disambiguation)

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday February 13, 2008 at 11:57:01 PST (GMT -0800)
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676 More from Wikipedia »