Dicing

Dicing food

Dice at this time were very small: a large parcel of them were found under the floor of the hall of one of the Temples, about 1764, and were so minute as to have dropt at times through the chinks or joints of the boards. There were near 100 pair of ivory, scarce more than two thirds as large as our modern ones. The hall was built in the reign of Elizabeth.
Title: The Forme of Cury Author: Samuel Pegge 1780 [FoCur]

How to dice

Dicing is a cutting technique often used to prepare food for salads or soups ¹ .

Dicing is cutting food into small cubes of about 1/4 inch (6.35 mm). First, make matchstick or Julienne cuts, and then cut crosswise to make uniform pieces.

Dicing an onion

This was how my mother used to get the perfect little onion cubes for our tuna salad.

Slice the stem end off of the onion
Make crosswise cuts into the cut face of the onion. Go as deep as you can into the onion, but do not cut into the root end. The root end of the onion will hold the slices together.
Slice the onion. Neat dice will separate as you cut.

Dicing an avocado

Notes

¹Dicing seems to be enshrined in the lore of food gadgetry. While there are numerous vegetable chopping devices, none seems more handy than the chef's knife.