chess

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See also: Chess

English[edit]

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A chess game
A chessboard in initial configuration

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: chĕs, IPA(key): /t͡ʃɛs/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛs

Etymology 1[edit]

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 ( /⁠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).

Noun[edit]

chess (usually uncountable, plural chesses)

  1. A board game for two players, each beginning with sixteen chess pieces moving according to fixed rules across a chessboard with the objective to checkmate the opposing king.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Chess pieces in English · chess pieces, chessmen (see also: chess) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
king queen rook, castle bishop knight pawn

Etymology 2[edit]

Uncertain; perhaps linked to Etymology 1, above, from the sense of being arranged in rows or lines.

Noun[edit]

chess (plural chesses)

  1. (now chiefly US) Any of several species of grass in the genus Bromus, generally considered weeds.
    • 2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre, published 2008, page 59:
      Hobbled, loudly gourmandizing the dry chess grass, they were guarded by a pair of dismounted soldiers in long, dusty coats [...].

Etymology 3[edit]

Compare French châssis (a framework of carpentry).

Noun[edit]

chess (plural chesses)

  1. (military, chiefly in the plural) One of the platforms, consisting of two or more planks dowelled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge.
    • 1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer:
      the balks are laid and covered with chesses to within 1 foot of the trestle
    • 1885, Edward S. Farrow, Farrow's Military Encyclopedia; A Dictionary of Military Knowledge:
      ach chess consists of three planks.

References[edit]

chess”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams[edit]