chess
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chess¹
- /t͡ʃɛs/
Rhymes with -ɛs
Where it comes from
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”).
noun chesses
-
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.
At the tender age of 20, Penguingm1 is already one of the best hyperbullet and ultrabullet chess players in the world.
Similar: international chess, Western chess
Similar: chess
chess²
- /t͡ʃɛs/
Rhymes with -ɛs
Where it comes from
Uncertain; perhaps linked to Etymology 1, above, from the sense of being arranged in rows or lines.
noun chesses
- Any of several species of grass in the genus Bromus, generally considered weeds. Hobbled, loudly gourmandizing the dry chess grass, they were guarded by a pair of dismounted soldiers in long, dusty coats [...].
Similar: chess
chess³
- /t͡ʃɛs/
Rhymes with -ɛs
Where it comes from
Compare French châssis (“a framework of carpentry”).
noun chesses
- One of the platforms, consisting of two or more planks dowelled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge. the balks are laid and covered with chesses to within 1 foot of the trestle
Similar: chess
Chess⁴
Where it comes from
The river name is a back-formation from Chesham, a town at the head of the river.
proper noun
- A surname.
- A river in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, England, which joins the Colne at Rickmansworth.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: cheat, bromus secalinus, chess game, chessboard, check, game, failed, failure, poorly, bad, blindfold, kee, failures, shatranj, chaturanga, ajedrez
noun
Similar: chess
noun
Similar: chess
noun
Similar: chess
Translations
Every language
noun two-player board game
| Español | ajedrez, escaques |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 체스 cheseu, 서양장기 seoyangjanggi |
| 日本語 | チェス chesu, 西洋将棋 seiyōshōgi |
| 中文 | 象棋 xiàngqí |
| हिन्दी | शतरंज śatrañj, चेस ces, शतरञ्ज śatrañj, बुद्धिद्यूत buddhidyūt, सतरंज satrañj, सतरञ्ज satrañj |
| Kiswahili | chesi, sataranji |
| Português | xadrez |
| Français | échecs |
| Deutsch | Schach, Schachspiel |
| Italiano | scacchi |
| Ελληνικά | σκάκι skáki, ζατρίκιο zatríkio |
| Română | șah |
| Русский | ша́хматы šáxmaty |
| Tiếng Việt | cờ vua |
| العربية | شَطْرَنْج šaṭranj, شِطْرَنْج šiṭranj |
| עברית | שַׁחְמָט shakhmát |
Talk about this word "chess." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/chess. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. chess. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/chess "chess." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/chess.Cite this
@misc{chess_2026,
title = {chess},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/chess},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
