English Explanatory Dictionary

chess

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  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.
noun
  1. Any of several species of grass in the genus Bromus, generally considered weeds.
noun
  1. One of the platforms, consisting of two or more planks dowelled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A river in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, England, which joins the Colne at Rickmansworth.

Pronunciation

chĕs /t͡ʃɛs/ En-us-chess.ogg

Word forms

chess chesses

Etymology

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”).

Synonyms

chess international chess Western chess

Related words

checkers draughts scacchic

Derived words

10D chess 11D chess 12D chess 3-D chess 3D chess 4D chess 5D chess 6D chess 7D chess 8D chess 9D chess Absolute Rettah chess Advancing chess Alice chess Ambi-chess antichess Armageddon chess atomic chess Black and White chess blindfold chess blitz chess Blot-straight chess bughouse chess bullet chess Burmese chess Capablanca chess Capablanca's chess Capricorn chess capture chess Cheshire Cat chess Chess960 chess-apple chessboard chess boxer chessboxer chess boxing chessboxing chess cake chess clock chessdom chess engine chessic chessist chesslike chess-like chessman chess-man chessmaster chess master chess pie chess-piece chess piece chesspiece chess player chessplayer chess-playing chess-rating chess set chess tart chess timer
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