| A very early trump game | |
 The suit of Spades from a French pack, ranking as in Triomphe | |
| Origin | England |
|---|---|
| Alternative names | Trump, Triumph, French ruff |
| Family | Trick-taking |
| Players | 2 or 4 |
| Cards | 36 or 52 |
| Deck | English pattern |
| Rank (high→low) | K Q J A 10 9 8 7 6 |
| Play | Clockwise |
Triomphe (French for triumph), once known as French ruff, is a card game dating from the late 15th century. It most likely originated in France or Spain (as triunfo) and later spread to the rest of Europe. When the game arrived in Italy, it shared a similar name with the pre-existing game and deck known as trionfi; probably resulting in the latter becoming renamed as Tarocchi (tarot). While trionfi has a fifth suit that acts as permanent trumps, triomphe randomly selects one of the existing four suits as trumps. Another common feature of this game is the robbing of the stock. Triomphe became so popular that during the 16th century the earlier game of trionfi was gradually renamed tarocchi, tarot, or tarock.[1][2] This game is the origin of the English word "trump" and is the ancestor of many trick-taking games like Euchre (via Écarté) and Whist (via Ruff and Honours). The earliest known description of Triomphe was of a point-trick game, perhaps one of the earliest of its type; later, the name was applied to a plain-trick game.
- ^ Dummett, Michael (1980). The Game of Tarot. London: Duckworth. p. 84.
- ^ Vitali, Andrea. Triumphs, Trionfini and Trionfetti at Le Tarot Cultural Association. Retrieved 17 February 2017.