Schach

See also: s'chach

German

Etymology

From Middle High German schāch, from Arabic شاه (šāh), from Classical Persian شاه (šāh), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/, “king”). Doublet of Check, Schah, and Scheck.

Oriental words were usually borrowed into Middle High German through Italian or Old French. Therefore the final /x/ is remarkable, because this sound was replaced with /k/ in Italian scacco, Old French échec. There are two possible explanations for this: Either the word was borrowed directly from Arabic during the early Crusades, or it was borrowed through Middle Dutch schaec and the -ch goes back to artificial reproduction of the High German consonant shift (as happened in several other words).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃax/

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ax

Noun

Schach n (strong, genitive Schachs, plural Schachs)

1. chess (game)
2. check (chess situation in which the king is directly threatened)

Declension

Declension of Schach [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Schach	die	Schachs
genitive	eines	des	Schachs	der	Schachs
dative	einem	dem	Schach	den	Schachs
accusative	ein	das	Schach	die	Schachs

Derived terms

• Blitzschach
• Damenschach
• Dauerschach
• Doppelschach
• Reiseschach
• Schachanleitung
• Schachaufgabe
• Schachbrett
• Schachbuch
• Schachclub
• Schachfibel
• Schachfigur
• Schachgebot
• Schachgenie
• Schachgroßmeister
• Schachklub
• Schachländerkampf
• Schachmannschaft
• schachmatt
• Schachmeister
• Schachmeisterschaft
• Schacholympiade
• Schachpartie
• Schachproblem
• Schachspiel
• Schachspieler
• Schachsport
• Schachtisch
• Schachturnier
• Schachuhr
• Schachweltmeister
• Schachweltmeisterschaft
• Schachwettkampf
• Schachzug
• Schmachmatt
• Schnellschach
• Simultanschach
• Steckschach
• Vierschach

 

Descendants

• → Russian: шах (šax)
  • → Armenian: շախ (šax)
• → Hungarian: sakk
• → Luxembourgish: Schach
• → Romanian: șah
• → Swedish: schack
  • → Finnish: shakki, šakki

Noun

Schach m (strong, genitive Schachs, plural Schachs or Schache)

1. Obsolete form of Schah (“Persian or, by extension, other Oriental ruler”).

Further reading

• “Schach” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Schach” in Duden online

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃax/

Noun

Schach n

1. chess

   Schach spiele.

   To play chess.

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From German Schach, from Classical Persian شاه (šāh), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/, “king”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɑχ/
• Rhymes: -ɑχ

Noun

Schach n (uncountable)

1. chess