Definition:Die

Definition


A die (plural: dice) is a device for generating random numbers, traditionally between $1$ and $6$.

A die usually consists of a cube on which each face denotes a different number, usually (again) from $1$ to $6$.

The idea is that when you roll it, or throw it, or otherwise cause it to land upon a flattish surface, one of the sides will be face-up, and (with a good design of die) which side that is can not be precisely predicted.

Hence it serves as a generator of a discrete uniform distribution.

By using dice with different shapes (usually either platonic solids or prisms), a different probability space can be generated.

Also see

 * Definition:Coin

Linguistic Note
Note that the plural of die is dice.

Beware the tendency to use the word dice as a singular noun:
 * I threw a dice and it came up six

as this (while colloquial) is technically incorrect.