Tarot is a category of cards used for divination and fortune telling.
The word tarot is a borrowing from French during the late 1500s. The French word is spelled the same way. Similar to other words that have been borrowed from French, the second t is silent, so it is pronounced as either tah-row or teh-row. It is interesting that it was borrowed from French as the origin of tarot is actually Italy. There have not been any spelling or pronunciation changes since its borrowing.
Tarot cards come in many shapes and sizes. The most commonly used tarot deck is the Rider Waite deck. This deck was first published in 1909 by the Rider company. This tarot deck is also called the Rider Waite Smith deck in reference to all three contributors to the deck, publisher Rider, mystic A. E. Waite, and illustrator Pamela Colman Smith. The deck consists of the Major Arcana, 22 cards, and the Minor Arcana, 56 cards made up into 4 suits. The 4 suits are wands, cups, swords, and pentacles.
Sources:
Giles, Cynthia. The Tarot: History, Mystery, and Lore. Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Rider Waite Smith, 15 July 2024, www.riderwaitesmith.com/.
“Tarot, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1974272787.