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

Synonyms

Schachspiel

Spiel der Könige

herrscht

Königin

👸

regiert

Schachpartie

Translations

scacchi

ajedrez

échecs

satranç

xadrez

escacs

schaak

σκάκι

schaakspel

شطرنج

schaken

scacco

échec

escacs

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʃax/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German: schāch

Cognate with Italian: scacco

Cognate with Old French: échec

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).