Card game.
It belongs to a family that includes bridge whist and bridge, each of which developed in succession from the original game of whist. The essential features of card games in the whist family are: four people usually play, two against two as partners; a full 52-card deck is dealt out evenly so that each player holds 13 cards; the object of play is to win tricks, and win or loss is determined by the number of tricks taken (as distinct from games such as pinochle , in which it is determined by the value of card points taken in tricks). Whist originated in 17th-century England.