Chess
/tʃɛs/noun
A board game for two players played on an 8×8 board with 16 pieces each.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Persian shāh, meaning “king,” and the famous phrase “checkmate” traces to Persian shāh māt, traditionally understood as “the king is helpless/dead,” turning the game into a ritualized hunt for the monarch.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*reg-
“to move in a straight line; to rule, direct”
Old Persian
OP
xšāyaθiya
“king, ruler”
Persian
Per
shāh
“king”
Arabic
Ar
shāh
“king (borrowed title in chess terminology)”
Old French
OF
esches
“the chess game; also the pieces”
Middle English
EN
ches / ches(s)
“the game of chess”