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Added 9 October 2026

chess

/t͡ʃɛs/ noun

In Latin: scaccī Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about chess at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Weedy annual native to Europe but widely distributed as a weed especially in wheat.
A board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king.

Origin

From Middle English ches, chesse, from Old French eschés, plural of eschec, from Medieval Latin scaccus, from Arabic شَاه (šāh, “king [in chess]”), from Classical Persian شاه (šāh, “shah, king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/). Compare German Schach and Italian scacchi. Compare French échecs (“chess”) and its descendants: Catalan escacs and Dutch schaak. More at check and shah (“king of Persia or Iran”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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