name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
chess
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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chĕs
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/t͡ʃɛs/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɛs
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CMU ARPABET: CH EH1 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
A river in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, England, which joins the Colne at Rickmansworth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: international chess, Western chess
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Any of several species of grass in the genus Bromus, generally considered weeds.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
One of the platforms, consisting of two or more planks dowelled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: in-plural
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: chess game
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: board game
Narrower terms: shogi
noun
Meaning 7
weedy annual native to Europe but widely distributed as a weed especially in wheat
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cheat, Bromus secalinus
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: brome, bromegrass
History
Etymology
The river name is a back-formation from Chesham, a town at the head of the river.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tek- Proto-Indo-Iranian *kšáyati Proto-Iranian *xšáyati Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ) Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ) Classical Persian شاه (šāh)bor. Arabic شَاه (šāh)der. Old French eschésbor. Middle English ches English chess 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”).
Uncertain; perhaps linked to Etymology 1, above, from the sense of being arranged in rows or lines.
Compare French châssis (“a framework of carpentry”).
Across languages
Translations
225 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: skaak — two-player board game
- Albanian: shah — two-player board game
- Amharic: ሰንጠረዥ (sänṭäräž) — two-player board game
- Arabic: شَطْرَنْج (šaṭranj) — two-player board game
- Arabic: شِطْرَنْج (šiṭranj) — two-player board game
- Arabic: شَطْرَنْج (šaṭranj) — two-player board game
- Aragonese: axedrez — two-player board game
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܛܠܲܦܣܵܢܹ̈ܐ (ṭlapsānē) — two-player board game
- Aramaic: ܛܠܦܣܢܐ — two-player board game
- Aramaic: ܫܛܪܢܓ — two-player board game
- Armenian: շախմատ (šaxmat) — two-player board game
- Armenian: ճատրակ (čatrak) — two-player board game
- Assamese: দবাখেল (dobakhel) — two-player board game
- Asturian: axedrez — two-player board game
- Azerbaijani: şahmat — two-player board game
- Bashkir: шахмат (şaxmat) — two-player board game
- Basque: xake — two-player board game
- Belarusian: ша́хматы (šáxmaty) — two-player board game
- Belarusian: ша́хы (šáxy) — two-player board game
- Bengali: দাবা (daba) — two-player board game
- Central Bikol: ahedres — two-player board game
- Breton: echedoù — two-player board game
- Breton: gwezboell — two-player board game
- Bulgarian: шах (šah) — two-player board game
- Bulgarian: шахма́т (šahmát) — two-player board game
- Burmese: စစ်တုရင် (cactu.rang) — two-player board game
- Buryat: шатар (šatar) — two-player board game
- Carpathian Rusyn: ша́хы (šáxŷ) — two-player board game
- Catalan: escacs — two-player board game
- Chechen: шахматаш (šaxmataš) — two-player board game
- Chinese Cantonese: 國際象棋 /国际象棋 — two-player board game
- Chinese Mandarin: 象棋 (xiàngqí) — two-player board game
- Chinese Mandarin: 國際象棋 /国际象棋 (guójì xiàngqí) — two-player board game
- Chinese Mandarin: 西洋棋 (xīyángqí) — two-player board game
- Chukchi: чьумэт (čʹumėt) — two-player board game
- Chuvash: шахмат (šahmat) — two-player board game
- Cornish: gwydhbol — two-player board game
- Crimean Tatar: şahmat — two-player board game
- Czech: šachy — two-player board game
- Danish: skak — two-player board game
- Dhivehi: ރާޒުވާ (rāzuvā) — two-player board game
- Dutch: schaak — two-player board game
- Dutch: schaakspel — two-player board game
- Dutch: schaken — two-player board game
- Dzongkha: དམག་རྩེད (dmag rtsed) — two-player board game
- Emilian: scâc — two-player board game
- Emilian: scâch — two-player board game
- Emilian: scach — two-player board game
- Esperanto: ŝako — two-player board game
- Estonian: male — two-player board game
- Fala: ajedré — two-player board game
- Faroese: talv — two-player board game
- Finnish: shakki — two-player board game
- Finnish: šakki — two-player board game
- French: échecs — two-player board game
- West-Frisian: skake — two-player board game
- Galician: xadrez — two-player board game
- Georgian: ჭადრაკი (č̣adraḳi) — two-player board game
- German: Schach — two-player board game
- German: Schachspiel — two-player board game
- Greek: σκάκι (skáki) — two-player board game
- Greek: ζατρίκιο (zatríkio) — two-player board game
- Ancient Greek: ζατρίκιον (zatríkion) — two-player board game
- Gujarati: ચેસ (ces) — two-player board game
- Haitian Creole: echèk — two-player board game
- Hausa: dara — two-player board game
- Hebrew: שַׁחְמָט (shakhmát) — two-player board game
- Hiligaynon: ahedrés — two-player board game
- Hindi: शतरंज (śatrañj) — two-player board game
- Hindi: चेस (ces) — two-player board game
- Hindi: शतरञ्ज (śatrañj) — two-player board game
- Hindi: बुद्धिद्यूत (buddhidyūt) — two-player board game
- Hindi: सतरंज (satrañj) — two-player board game
- Hindi: सतरञ्ज (satrañj) — two-player board game
- Hindi: सँतरँज (sãtrañj) — two-player board game
- Hindi: चेस (ces) — two-player board game
- Hindi: चतुरंग (caturaṅg) — two-player board game
- Hindi: चतुरङ्ग (caturaṅg) — two-player board game
- Hindi: चतरङ्ग (catraṅg) — two-player board game
- Hungarian: sakk — two-player board game
- Hunsrik: Schach — two-player board game
- Icelandic: skák — two-player board game
- Icelandic: skáktafl — two-player board game
- Icelandic: tafl — two-player board game
- Ido: shakoludo — two-player board game
- Ilocano: ahedrés — two-player board game
- Indonesian: catur — two-player board game
- Ingrian: šahmatat — two-player board game
- Inuktitut: ᐊᑕᓃᑦ (ataniit) — two-player board game
- Irish: ficheall — two-player board game
- Italian: scacchi — two-player board game
- Japanese: チェス (chesu) — two-player board game
- Japanese: 西洋将棋 (seiyōshōgi) — two-player board game
- Javanese: sekak — two-player board game
- Kalmyk: шатр (şatr) — two-player board game
- Kannada: ಚದುರಂಗ (caduraṅga) — two-player board game
- Kannada: ಚೆಸ್ (ces) — two-player board game
- Kazakh: шахмат (şaxmat) — two-player board game
- Khmer: ចត្រង្គ (caʼtrɑng) — two-player board game
- Korean: 체스 (cheseu) — two-player board game
- Korean: 서양장기 (seoyangjanggi) — two-player board game
- Central Kurdish: شەتڕەنج (şetrrenc) — two-player board game
- Northern Kurdish: sedrenc — two-player board game
- Northern Kurdish: kişik — two-player board game
- Kyrgyz: шахмат (şahmat) — two-player board game
- Lao: ຫມາກຮຸກ (māk huk) — two-player board game
- Lao: ຫມາກເສີກ (māk sœ̄k) — two-player board game
- Lao: ຫມາກເສິກ (māk sœk) — two-player board game
- Latin: scaccī — two-player board game
- Latvian: šahs — two-player board game
- Lezgi: шахматар (šaꭓmatar) — two-player board game
- Ligurian: scàcco — two-player board game
- Lithuanian: šachmatai — two-player board game
- Samogitian: šachmatā — two-player board game
- Lombard: scach — two-player board game
- Lombard: scachi — two-player board game
- Luganda: omweso — two-player board game
- Luxembourgish: Schach — two-player board game
- Macedonian: шах (šah) — two-player board game
- Malagasy: eseka — two-player board game
- Malagasy: fanorona — two-player board game
- Malagasy: tsifahombiazana — two-player board game
- Malay: catur — two-player board game
- Malay: sekak — two-player board game
- Malayalam: ചെസ്സ് (cessŭ) — two-player board game
- Malayalam: ചതുരംഗം (caturaṅgaṁ) — two-player board game
- Maltese: ċess — two-player board game
- Maltese: skakki — two-player board game
- Manx: feeal — two-player board game
- Māori: whaikīngi — two-player board game
- Maranao: satoran — two-player board game
- Marathi: बुद्धिबळ (buddhibaḷ) — two-player board game
- Central Melanau: satuor — two-player board game
- Middle English: ches — two-player board game
- Mirandese: xadreç — two-player board game
- Mongolian: шатар (šatar) — two-player board game
- Mongolian: ᠰᠢᠲᠠᠷᠠ (sitar-a) — two-player board game
- Classical Nahuatl: cuauhpatōlli — two-player board game
- Classical Nahuatl: cuappatōlli — two-player board game
- Navajo: siláo ałchʼįʼ naanil — two-player board game
- Nepali: बुद्धिचाल (buddhicāl) — two-player board game
- Nganasan: катариаи’’ (katariai') — two-player board game
- Nogai: шатыраш (şatıraş) — two-player board game
- Norwegian Bokmål: sjakk — two-player board game
- Norwegian Nynorsk: sjakk — two-player board game
- Occitan: escacs — two-player board game
- Odia: ସତରଞ୍ଜ (satarañja) — two-player board game
- Old East Slavic: шахматꙑ (šaxmaty) — two-player board game
- Old Norse: skák — two-player board game
- Ossetian: шахмӕттӕ (šaxmættæ) — two-player board game
- Ossetian: къентӕ (k’entæ) — two-player board game
- Pali: caturaṅga — two-player board game
- Pannonian Rusyn: шах (šax) — two-player board game
- Pashto: سترنج (satranj) — two-player board game
- Pashto: سطرنج (satranj) — two-player board game
- Iranian Persian: شَطْرَنْج (šatranj) — two-player board game
- Iranian Persian: شَتْرَنْگ (šatrang) — two-player board game
- Iranian Persian: شَتْرَنْج (šatranj) — two-player board game
- Iranian Persian: چَتْرَنْگ (čatrang) — two-player board game
- Middle Persian: 𐭰𐭠𐭲𐭫𐭠𐭭𐭢 — two-player board game
- Piedmontese: scach — two-player board game
- Plautdietsch: Schach — two-player board game
- Polish: szachy — two-player board game
- Portuguese: xadrez — two-player board game
- Punjabi: ਸ਼ਤਰੰਜ (śatrañj) — two-player board game
- Punjabi: شطرنج (śt̤rnj) — two-player board game
- Romagnol: schöc — two-player board game
- Romanian: șah — two-player board game
- Russian: ша́хматы (šáxmaty) — two-player board game
- Northern Sami: šáhkka — two-player board game
- Sanskrit: चतुरङ्ग (caturaṅga) — two-player board game
- Scottish Gaelic: tàileasg — two-player board game
- Scottish Gaelic: fidhcheall — two-player board game
- Serbo-Croatian: ша̏х — two-player board game
- Serbo-Croatian: са̀нтра̄ч — two-player board game
- Serbo-Croatian: šȁh — two-player board game
- Serbo-Croatian: sàntrāč — two-player board game
- Sicilian: scacchi — two-player board game
- Silesian: szachmaty — two-player board game
- Sinhalese: පාද ක්රීඩාව (pāda krīḍāwa) — two-player board game
- Slovak: šach — two-player board game
- Slovak: šachy — two-player board game
- Slovene: šah — two-player board game
- Lower Sorbian: šach — two-player board game
- Upper Sorbian: šach — two-player board game
- Spanish: ajedrez — two-player board game
- Spanish: escaques — two-player board game
- Swahili: chesi — two-player board game
- Swahili: sataranji — two-player board game
- Swedish: schack — two-player board game
- Tagalog: satol — two-player board game
- Tagalog: ahedres — two-player board game
- Tagalog: tses — two-player board game
- Tajik: шатранҷ (šatranj) — two-player board game
- Tajik: шоҳмот (šohmot) — two-player board game
- Tamil: சதுரங்கம் (caturaṅkam) — two-player board game
- Tamil: செஸ் (ces) — two-player board game
- Tatar: шахмат (şaxmat) — two-player board game
- Telugu: చతురంగము (caturaṅgamu) — two-player board game
- Telugu: చదరంగము (cadaraṅgamu) — two-player board game
- Thai: หมากรุก (màak-rúk) — two-player board game
- Tibetan: རྒྱལ་སྤྱིའི་མིག་མངས (rgyal spyi'i mig mangs) — two-player board game
- Tigrinya: ቸስ (čäs) — two-player board game
- Turkish: satranç — two-player board game
- Ottoman Turkish: سطرنج (satranc) — two-player board game
- Turkmen: küşt — two-player board game
- Ukrainian: ша́хи (šáxy) — two-player board game
- Urdu: شَطْرَن٘ج (śatrañj) — two-player board game
- Urdu: چیس (ces) — two-player board game
- Uyghur: شاھمات (shahmat) — two-player board game
- Uyghur: شەترەنج (shetrenj) — two-player board game
- Uzbek: shaxmat — two-player board game
- Uzbek: shatranj — two-player board game
- Veps: šahmatad — two-player board game
- Vietnamese: cờ vua — two-player board game
- Volapük: cög — two-player board game
- Võro: malõ — two-player board game
- Waray-Waray: chess — two-player board game
- Waray-Waray: tses — two-player board game
- Welsh: gwyddbwyll — two-player board game
- Welsh: sies — two-player board game
- Yakut: саахымат (saaqïmat) — two-player board game
- Yiddish: שאָך (shokh) — two-player board game
- Yiddish: שאַכמאַט (shakhmat) — two-player board game
- Zulu: ishesi — two-player board game
Real reading context