Schach

Bedeutung

Synonyme

Übersetzungen

Notes

Extra tools

(Englisch)

(neuter, strong) chess (game)
(neuter, strong) check (chess situation in which the king is directly threatened)

Frequenz

Ausgesprochen als (IPA)

/ʃax/

Geerbt von Mittelhochdeutsch

Verwandt mit Italienisch

Verwandt mit Altfranzösisch

In summary

From Middle High German schāch, from Arabic شاه (šāh), from Classical Persian شاه (šāh), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/, “king”). Doublet of Check, Schah, and Scheck. Oriental words were usually borrowed into Middle High German through Italian or Old French. Therefore the final /x/ is remarkable, because this sound was replaced with /k/ in Italian scacco, Old French échec. There are two possible explanations for this: Either the word was borrowed directly from Arabic during the early Crusades, or it was borrowed through Middle Dutch schaec and the -ch goes back to artificial reproduction of the High German consonant shift (as happened in several other words).