gambit

See also: Gambit

English

Alternative forms

• gambett (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em-

Proto-Indo-European *kh₂emp-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *kh₂empeh₂

Proto-Hellenic *kampā́

Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ)bor.

Late Latin gamba

Italian gamba

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tosder.?

Late Latin -ittus

Italian -etto

Italian gambettobor.

English gambit

Borrowed from Italian gambetto (“act of tripping; gambit”), from gamba (“leg”) + -etto (diminutive suffix). First attested in 1656.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æmbɪt

Noun

gambit (plural gambits)

1. (chess) An opening in chess in which material 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

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

Descendants

Internationalisms:

• → Arabic: غَامْبِت (ḡāmbit)
• → Hawaiian: gamabita
• → Japanese: ギャンビット (gyanbitto)

Translations

chess move

• Arabic: غَامْبِت m (ḡāmbit), جَامْبِت m (gāmbit)
• 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

Etymology

From Italian gambetto (“act of tripping; gambit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɑ̃.bit/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Agen)):

  (file)

Noun

gambit m (plural gambits)

1. gambit

Descendants

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: гамби́т (gambít)
• → Danish: gambit
  • → Estonian: gambiit
• → Dutch: gambiet
• → Luxembourgish: gambit
• → Norwegian: gambit
• → Persian: گامبی
• → Romanian: gambit
• → Russian: гамби́т (gambít)
  • → Georgian: გამბიტი (gambiṭi)
  • → Kazakh: гамбит (gambit)
  • → Kyrgyz: гамбит (gambit)
• → Swedish: gambit
  • → Finnish: gambiitti

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 *kh₂emp- (“to bend, curve”) (whence also Polish kępina, Latin campus), from *kh₂em-.

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^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “gambit”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French gambit.

Noun

gambit n (plural gambituri)

1. gambit

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	gambit	gambitul	gambituri	gambiturile
genitive-dative	gambit	gambitului	gambituri	gambiturilor
vocative	gambitule		gambiturilor

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡambit/, [ˈɡambit]
• Rhymes: -ambit
• Hyphenation: gam‧bit

Noun

gambit m inan

1. (chess) gambit

Declension

Declension of gambit
(pattern dub)

	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, 2003–2026