Schach

Meaning

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

Concepts

chess

check

chess set

checkmate

chesspiece

Frequency

C1
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ʃax/
Etymology

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).

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