gambit

See also: Gambit

English

Alternative forms

• gambett (obsolete)

Etymology

From Italian gambetto (“act of tripping; gambit”), from Italian gamba (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡæmbɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æmbɪt

Noun

gambit (plural gambits)

1. (chess) An opening in chess in which a minor piece or a pawn is sacrificed to gain an advantage.

   Her clever gambit gave her an advantage.

2. Any ploy or stratagem.

   Their promise to lower taxes is clearly an election-year gambit.

   • 2009, Steven Rosefielde, Red Holocaust, page 240:

     The Red Holocaust is best interpreted in this light as the bitter fruit of an^[sic] utopian gambit that was socially misengineered into a dystopic nightmare by despots in humanitarian disguise.

   • 2023 June 29, City AM, London, page 18, column 2:

     An opening sequence, featuring a de-aged Ford playing a younger Indy, is a bold and nostalgic gambit, offering a glimpse of what you've missed.

3. A remark intended to open a conversation.

Derived terms

• countergambit
• Evans Gambit
• Kings's Gambit
• Queen's Gambit
• Queen's Gambit Declined
• Stafford Gambit
• Stafford gambit
• Tennison Gambit
• Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit

 

Translations

chess move

• Catalan: gambit m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 棄兵開局／弃兵开局 (qìbīng kāijú)

• Czech: gambit m
• Danish: gambit c
• Dutch: gambiet (nl) n
• Esperanto: gambito (eo)
• Estonian: gambiit
• Finnish: gambiitti (fi)
• French: gambit (fr) m
• Georgian: გამბიტი (ka) (gambiṭi)
• German: Gambit (de) n
• Hawaiian: gamabita
• Hungarian: vezércsel (hu)
• Italian: gambetto (it) m
• Japanese: ギャンビット (gyanbitto)
• Kazakh: гамбит (gambit)
• Kyrgyz: гамбит (gambit)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: gambit n
• Macedonian: гамбит m (gambit)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gambit (no) m

• Persian: گامبی (fa) (gâmbi)
• Polish: gambit (pl) m
• Portuguese: gambito (pt) m
• Russian: гамби́т (ru) m (gambít)
• Slovak: gambit m
• Spanish: gambito (es) m
• Tamil: பலியாட்டம் (paliyāṭṭam)

ploy

• Finnish: taktiikka (fi), juoni (fi)
• French: stratagème (fr) m
• Polish: gambit (pl) m
• Portuguese: jogada (pt) f, estratagema (pt) m
• Russian: гамби́т (ru) m (gambít), уло́вка (ru) f (ulóvka)
• Spanish: estratagema (es) f

conversation opener

• Finnish: keskustelunavaus, avaus (fi)
• Spanish: tema (es) m

Verb

gambit (third-person singular simple present gambits, present participle gambiting, simple past and past participle gambited)

1. (chess, transitive) To sacrifice (a pawn or minor piece) to gain an advantage.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

gambit m (plural gambits)

1. gambit

Descendants

• → Russian: гамбит (gambit)
  • → Georgian: გამბიტი (gambiṭi)

Further reading

• “gambit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English gambit, from Italian gambetto, from gamba, from Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ), from Proto-Indo-European *kamp-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡam.bit/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ambit
• Syllabification: gam‧bit

Noun

gambit m inan

1. (chess) gambit (chess move)
2. gambit (risky move)

   Synonym: ryzyko

Declension

Declension of gambit

	singular	plural
nominative	gambit	gambity
genitive	gambitu	gambitów
dative	gambitowi	gambitom
accusative	gambit	gambity
instrumental	gambitem	gambitami
locative	gambicie	gambitach
vocative	gambicie	gambity

Further reading

• gambit in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• gambit in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French gambit.

Noun

gambit n (plural gambituri)

1. gambit

Declension

Declension of gambit

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) gambit	gambitul	(niște) gambituri	gambiturile
genitive/dative	(unui) gambit	gambitului	(unor) gambituri	gambiturilor
vocative	gambitule		gambiturilor

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡambit]

Noun

gambit m inan (genitive singular gambitu, nominative plural gambity, genitive plural gambitov, declension pattern of dub)

1. (chess) gambit

Declension

Declension of gambit

	singular	plural
nominative	gambit	gambity
genitive	gambitu	gambitov
dative	gambitu	gambitom
accusative	gambit	gambity
locative	gambite	gambitoch
instrumental	gambitom	gambitmi

Further reading

• “gambit”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024