book

books (plural)
boke (alternative obsolete)
booke (alternative archaic)

Sranan Tongo: buku

desctree

Tok Pisin: buk
→ Rotokas: vuku
→ Takia: buk

→ Chichewa: buku

→ Hawaiian: puke

→ Lingala: búku

→ Malagasy: boky

→ Maori: pukapuka (with reduplication)

→ Marshallese: bok

→ Motu: buka

→ Shona: bhuku

→ Somali: buugga

i

possibly also from Afrikaans <i class="Latn mention" lang="af">boek</i>

→ Sotho: buka (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

→ Zulu: ibhuku (possibly also from Afrikaans boek)

From Middle English bok, book, from Old English bōc, from Proto-West Germanic *bōk, from Proto-Germanic *bōks. Eclipsed non-native Middle English livret, lyveret (“book, booklet”) from Old French livret (“book, booklet”). Bookmaker sense by clipping.

some speakers from Northern England and Ireland

buck (without the foot-strut split, when pronounced /bʊk/)

have more chins than a Chinese phone book

why buy a book when you can join a library

why buy a book when you can join the library

The opposite-colored bishops endgame is usually a book draw.

A book move

out of book

White to move and win. How can he do it? The BK plans a march to h8, eating the f4 pawn en route, for a book draw.

2018 April 6, Leonard Barden, “Chess: Schoolboy Vincent Keymer secures shock triumph at Grenke Open”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2023-01-12:

This seems certain to simplify into a battle between White's king, rook and two pawns against Black's king and rook. In some cases a book draw is possible. But a book win is more likely.

2020, Andrew Soltis, How to Swindle in Chess, Batsford Books, →ISBN:

(chess, uncountable) The sum of chess knowledge in the opening or endgame.


A

19. Ac4xd5, Ab7xd5

1997, Anatoly Karpov, EL AJEDREZ. Aprender y progresar, page 24:

Tae1, Ae6

1998, Benito López Esnaola, Ajedrez a la ciega, page 87:

Veamos un ejemplo: 1. e4, e5; 2. Cf3, Cc6; 3. Ac4, Cd4?

2006, Antonio Lopez Manzano, Joan Segura Vila, “Los Errores en la Apertura. Las celadas.”, in Iniciación al ajedrez, volume 59, page 79:

Let's look at an example: 1. e4, e5; 2. Nf3, Nc6; 3. Bc4, Nd4?

1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cf6 3.d4 exd4 4.e5 Ce4 5.Dxd4 d5 6.exd6 a.p. Cxd6; 7.Ag5 Cc68.De3+ Ae7 9.Cbd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Te8 11.Rb1(=).

2023 April 10, “Leyes Del Ajedrez 2023”, in FIDE, page 27:


elephant

en-noun

elephant (countable and uncountable, plural elephants)

→ Hawaiian: ʻelepani

→ Maori: arewhana

→ Tokelauan: elefane

→ Tongan: ʻelefanite

→ Welsh: eliffant

From Middle English elefant, elefaunt, from Old French elefant, elefan, olifant, re-latinized in Middle French as elephant, from Latin elephantus, from Ancient Greek ἐλέφᾱς (eléphās) (gen. ἐλέφαντος (eléphantos)). Believed to be derived from an Afroasiatic form such as Proto-Berber *eḷu (“elephant”) (compare Tamahaq êlu, Tamasheq alu) or Egyptian ꜣbw (“elephant; ivory”). More at ivory. Replaced Middle English olifant (from the aforementioned Old French form, from Vulgar Latin *olifantus), which replaced Old English elpend (“elephant”).

elephant trunk

Pachypodium namaquanum or Agave attenuata

elephant tortoise

Testudo gigantea or Testudo elaphantopus

elephant yam

Amorphophallus konjac or Amorphophallus paeoniifolius

Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant

(xiangqi) A xiangqi piece that is moved two points diagonally, may not jump over intervening pieces and may not cross the river.


馬

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (馬):
* → Japanese: 馬(ば) (ba)
* → Korean: 마(馬) (ma)
* → Vietnamese: mã (馬, “(xiangqi) horse; (chess) knight”)

desctree

→ Proto-Tai: *maːꟲ (“horse”)
Northern Tai
Bouyei: max
Zhuang: max
Central Tai
Tày: mạ
Nùng: mạ
Nong Zhuang: max
Proto-Southwestern Tai:
Ahom: 𑜉𑜠 (ma), 𑜉𑜡 (mā), 𑜉𑜡𑜠 (māa)
Thai: ม้า (máa)
Northern Thai: ᨾ᩶ᩣ
Lao: ມ້າ (mā)
Lü: ᦙᦱᧉ (maa²)
Tai Dam: ꪣ꫁ꪱ
Shan: မႃႉ (mâ̰a)
Tai Nüa: ᥛᥣᥳ (mȧa)

desc

→ Thai: เบ๊ (bée, “horse”) (via Teochew)

Cursive script (East Asia)
Semi-cursive script

Pictogram (象形) – a horse with its head facing the left, showing a flowing mane in the wind. In the bronze inscriptions, the head was often simplified into an eye (目 (mù)). The legs eventually evolved into four dots (灬 (huǒ), unrelated to 火 (huǒ)).
Contrast with 鹿 (lù, “deer”), which saw a very different development, and 𢊁 (as in 薦 /荐 (jiàn)), which is a hybrid: it has the legs of 馬 (灬 (huǒ)) but the head of 鹿 (lù).
“Horse” – from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-m-raŋ ~ s-raŋ. The sense of “big” is derived from “horse”; compare the English uses of horse.
For the insect prefix sense, see 螞 /蚂. It has converged with the sense of “big”.
The surname is popularly known to be prevalent among Hui Muslims, where it is likely derived from Arabic مُحَمَّد (muḥammad, “Muhammad”), although the surname 馬 itself predates Islam.

马
𫠉
傌
𢒗
𢒠
𢒧
𩡬
𩡮
抹
碼

阿胡拉·馬茲達

Āhúlā Mǎzīdá

阿胡拉·马兹达

Āhúlā Mǎzīdá

馬斯特里赫特

Mǎsītèlǐhètè

(xiangqi) knight; horse: 🩪 (sometimes only on the black side)


馬

馬 (canonical)
馬 (canonical)
uma (romanization)
頭 (counter)

Horse
Nihon Kokugo Daijiten
Nihon Shoki
Tokyo dialect
Tōkai–Tōsan dialects
ja:馬

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.
The initial m sound was apparently emphasized, possibly similar to *mma, becoming then uma or muma, via processes also seen in the word 梅 (ume, mume, “plum”). However, Pellard simply reconstructs Proto-Japonic *uma and treats the mentioned processes as secondary.
The ma sound denoting "horse" is common to a number of languages of central Asia, where horses were first domesticated, which has led some to speculate about a possible cognate root (but no consensus on any kind of relation exists). Compare Manchu ᠮᠣᡵᡳᠨ (morin, “horse”), Mongolian морь (morʹ, “horse”), Korean 말 (mal, “horse”), Mandarin 馬 /马 (mǎ, “horse”), and Proto-Indo-European *márkos (“horse”) and descendants such as Irish marc (“horse”, archaic) or English mare (“female horse”). More at *márkos.


西

ja-noun

西(シャー) • (shā)

Possibly a corruption of Mandarin 西 (xī, “west”).

(mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of west wind tiles; depending on wind round and player's seat wind, it is worth either 1 or 2 翻 (han, “doubles”)


車

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (車):
* → Japanese: 車(しゃ) (sha)
* → Korean: 차(車) (cha), 거(車) (geo)
* → Vietnamese: xa (車)

→ Vietnamese: xe (車, “wheeled vehicle”)

→ Zhuang: ci (“vehicle”)

Pictogram (象形) – originally a carriage seen from above. In the oracle bone script, there were large wheels on both sides and a sun shade on the top. Later, when Chinese characters were written vertically, the wheels on both sides were simply drawn in strokes and the loading area was marked with a 田 (OC *l'iːŋ). Therefore, it is important to understand that the current character, 車 (OC *kʰlja, *kla) is a vertical depiction of a carriage.
Note that 倝 (OC *kaːns) and 朝 (OC *ʔr'ew, *r'ew) are not derived from 車 (OC *kʰlja, *kla).
Perhaps a loan from an Indo-European language because the horse and chariot were introduced into China around 1200 BC from Inner Asia; compare Tocharian A kukäl, Tocharian B kokale (“wagon; cart”) (Mair, 1990, Bauer, 1994), from Proto-Tocharian *kuk(ä)le, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos, a form of *kʷel- (“to turn”). Cognate with English wheel, Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos), Lithuanian kaklas (“neck”), etc.
Sagart and Baxter (2025) specifically pinpoint descent from some reflex of Proto-Indo-Iranian *čakrám. They also suppose that the variation of pronunciations could be attributed to separate borrowing events from Indo-Aryan and Iranian.
An older variant survives in Mandarin 軲轆／轱辘 (gūlu, “wheel”) (Bauer, 1994). Alternatively, the word is a derivation by k-prefix from 舁 (OC *la, “to lift”) (Baxter and Sagart, 1998); compare the semantic parallel in Tibetan ཐེག་པ (theg pa, “vehicle; carriage”) (OC *kʰljaʔ, *kʰljas) and 居 (OC *kas) (Schuessler, 2007). Pronunciation 2 is traditionally regarded as the older pronunciation.
The sense of lewd content is derived from 老司機 /老司机 (lǎosījī).

cog

(xiangqi) chariot; rook: 🩫 (Classifier: 隻／只 c)


車

(xiangqi) any piece labeled with 車; the chariot/rook.


wall

From Middle English wal, from Old English weall (“wall, dike, earthwork, rampart, dam, rocky shore, cliff”), from Proto-West Germanic *wall (“wall, rampart, entrenchment”), from Latin vallum (“wall, rampart, entrenchment, palisade”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”).
Perhaps conflated with waw (“a wall within a house or dwelling, a room partition”), from Middle English wawe, from Old English wāg, wāh (“an interior wall, divider”), see waw.
Cognate with North Frisian wal (“wall”), Saterland Frisian Waal (“wall, rampart, mound”), Dutch wal (“wall, rampart, embankment”), German Wall (“rampart, mound, embankment”), Swedish vall (“mound, wall, bank”). More at wallow, walk.

cog

the apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest

throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick

throw things at the wall and see what sticks

(mahjong) Face-down tiles arranged in stacked rows from which players draw new tiles.


general

en-noun

general (countable and uncountable, plural generals)

generals (plural)
General (alternative)
gen. (alternative)
gen (alternative)
Gen. (alternative)
Gen (alternative)
genl (alternative)
gen'l (alternative)
Genl (alternative)
Gen'l (alternative)
generall (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”); thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, generic.

(xiangqi) A xiangqi piece that is moved one point orthogonally and confined within the palace.


Indian

en-adj

Indian (comparative more Indian, superlative most Indian)

more Indian (comparative)
most Indian (superlative)

From Anglo-Norman indien, Middle French indien, corresponding to Ind + -ian or India + -an. Applied to inhabitants of the Americas due to an early misconception that the Americas were the eastern end of Asia / the Indies (hence also the designation of Caribbean islands as the West Indies).

(chess) Designating any of various chess openings now characterised by black's attempt to control the board through knights and fianchettoed bishops rather than with a central pawn advance.


black

black (comparative blacker or more black, superlative blackest or most black)

blacker (comparative)
more black (comparative)
blackest (superlative)
most black (superlative)
blacke (alternative obsolete)
Black (alternative)
blk (alternative)
blak (alternative)

Bislama: blak

Sranan Tongo: blaka

Aukan: baaka

→ Caribbean Hindustani: blaaka

Tok Pisin: blak

Torres Strait Creole: blaik

→ Dutch: black

→ French: black

→ Greek: μπλάκης (blákis)

From Middle English blak, black, blake, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-West Germanic *blak, from Proto-Germanic *blakaz (“burnt”) (compare Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”) (compare Latin flagrāre (“to burn”), Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga, “radiance”)).
Sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”).

sort

of coffee or tea, without milk or other whitener

The black pieces in this chess set are made of dark blue glass.

(board games, chess) Of or relating to the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the "black" set (in chess, the set used by the player who moves second) (often regardless of the pieces' actual colour).

sort

chess, checkers etc.: color opposing "white"


black

en-noun

black (countable and uncountable, plural blacks)

blacks (plural)
blacke (alternative obsolete)
Black (alternative)
blk (alternative)
blak (alternative)

→ Japanese: ブラック (burakku)

→ Volapük: bläg

At this point black makes a disastrous move.

1...Qd3 2 Ne1 Nd2! wins since 3 Nxd3 Rxf1 mate while 3 Qxc7+ Kg6 only delays the end. The best White can do is 3 Qc3+ Qxc3 4 Rxc3 Rxe1 when Black also wins the Bf1 and will be two pieces up.

2023 January 13, Leonard Barden, “Chess: Carlsen takes on young guns at Wijk as world champion eyes record”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 2023-01-23:

(countable, chess) The person playing with the black set of pieces.

sort

chess and similar games: person playing with the black set of pieces


red

rȇd (canonical masculine)
ре̑д (Cyrillic)
rȇd (nominative singular)
rȅdovi (nominative plural)
rȇda (genitive singular)
rȅdōvā (genitive plural)
rȇdu (dative singular)
rȅdovima (dative plural)
rȇd (accusative singular)
rȅdove (accusative plural)
rȇde (singular vocative)
rȅdovi (plural vocative)
rȇdu (locative singular)
rȅdovima (locative plural)
rȇdom (instrumental singular)
rȅdovima (instrumental plural)


white

en-adj

white (comparative whiter or more white, superlative whitest or most white)

whiter (comparative)
more white (comparative)
whitest (superlative)
most white (superlative)
whight (alternative obsolete)
whyte (alternative obsolete)
whyght (alternative obsolete)
White (alternative)

Bislama: waet

Sranan Tongo: weti

Aukan: weti

Saramaccan: wéti

Tok Pisin: wait

→ Japanese: ホワイト (howaito)

white fella

⇒ Nyunga: wadjela

white gin

⇒ Gamilaraay: waatyin

⇒ Ngiyambaa: wadjiin

⇒ Wiradjuri: waajin

Inherited from Middle English whit, hwit, from Old English hwīt, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīt, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweydós, a byform of *ḱweytós (“bright; shine”).
Cognates
* West Frisian wyt
*Dutch wit
* German weiß
* German weiss
* Norwegian Bokmål hvit
* Norwegian Nynorsk kvit
* Lithuanian šviẽsti (“to gleam”), šviesa (“light”)
* Old Church Slavonic свѣтъ (světŭ, “light”), свѣтьлъ (světĭlŭ, “clear, bright”)
* Persian سفید (sefid, “white”), Persian سپید (sepid, “white”)
* Avestan 𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬀 (spaēta, “white”)
* Sanskrit श्वेत (śvetá, “white, bright”).

cog

The white pieces in this set are in fact made of light green glass.

(board games, chess) The standard denomination of the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the white set, no matter what the actual colour.

hvid

board games: deemed to belong to the white set


white

en-noun

white (countable and uncountable, plural whites)

whites (plural)
whight (alternative obsolete)
whyte (alternative obsolete)
whyght (alternative obsolete)
White (alternative)

bělásek

common name for butterflies in the subfamily Pierinae

In this position, white has an opportunity to make a good move.

(board games, chess) The person playing with the white set of pieces.

valkoinen

board games: person playing with the white pieces


tempo

Borrowed from Italian tempo, from Latin tempus (“time”). Doublet of tense.
(truck or cargo van): A genericized trademark, originally associated with the manufacturer Vidal & Sohn Tempo-Werke GmbH.

(chess) A move which is part of one's own plan or strategy and forces, e.g. by means of a check or attacking a piece, the opponent to make a move which is not bad but of no use (the player gains a tempo, the opponent loses a tempo), or equivalently a player achieves the same result in fewer moves by one approach rather than another.


tempo

Borrowed from Italian tempo. Doublet of tiempo.


tempo

tempo (indefinite nominative singular)
tempos (genitive indefinite singular)
tempot (definite nominative singular)
tempots (definite genitive singular)
tempon (indefinite nominative plural)
tempons (genitive indefinite plural)
tempona (definite nominative plural)
temponas (definite genitive plural)

Borrowed from Italian tempo, from Latin tempus (“time”).


king

kings (plural)
kyng (alternative archaic)
kynge (alternative archaic)
kinge (alternative obsolete)

Tok Pisin: king

desc

⇒ American Sign Language: K@Shoulder K@Abdomen

→ Burmese: ကင် (kang)

→ Isubu: kinge

→ Japanese: キング (kingu)

→ Korean: 킹 (king)

→ Maori: kīngi

→ Marshallese: kiin̄

→ Thai: คิง (king)

From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning (“king”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz (“king”), equivalent to kin + -ing. Doublet of cyning and knez.
Cognate with Scots keeng (“king”), North Frisian köning (“king”), West Frisian kening (“king”), Dutch koning (“king”), Low German Koning, Köning (“king”), German König (“king”), Danish konge (“king”), Norwegian konge, Swedish konung, kung (“king”), Icelandic konungur, kóngur (“king”), Polish ksiądz (“priest”), Russian князь (knjazʹ, “prince”), Old Church Slavonic кънѧѕь (kŭnędzĭ), Romanian chinez, Finnish kuningas (“king”), Estonian kuningas, Ingrian kunigas, Karelian kuninkas, Livvi kuńingas, Ludian kuńingas, Veps kuningaz, Võro kuning and Votic kunikaz. Eclipsed non-native Middle English roy (“king”) (Early Modern English roy), borrowed from Old French roi, rei, rai (“king”).
The verb is inherited from Middle English kyngen, *kingen (“To perform the duties of a king”), itself from the noun king, kyng.

Audio — the king

акрал

a male of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation

in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

(chess) The principal chess piece, that players seek to threaten with unavoidable capture to result in a victory by checkmate. It is often the tallest piece, with a symbolic crown with a cross at the top.


queen

queens (plural)
queene (alternative obsolete)
quene (alternative obsolete)
queyne (alternative obsolete)

Tok Pisin: kwin

⇒ American Sign Language: G@Shoulder-PalmDown G@Abdomen-PalmDown

→ Burmese: ကွင်း (kwang:)

→ German: Queen

→ Japanese: クイーン (kuīn), クィーン (kwīn)

→ Korean: 퀸 (kwin)

→ Marshallese: kwiin

→ Maori: kuīni

→ Sikaiana: kuini

→ Spanish: cuina

→ Thai: ควีน (kwiin)

From Middle English quene, queen, cwen, from Old English cwēn (“queen”), from Proto-West Germanic *kwāni, from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz (“woman”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷénh₂s (“woman”).
Cognate with Scots queen, wheen (“queen”), Old Saxon quān ("wife"; > Middle Low German quene (“elderly woman”)), Dutch kween (“woman past child-bearing age”), Swedish kvinna (“woman”), Norwegian kvinne (“woman”), Danish kvinde (“woman”), Icelandic kvon (“wife”), Gothic 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 (qēns, “wife”), Norwegian dialectal kvån (“wife”). Related to and possibly merged with and/or absorbed some senses of English quean, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene (“woman; female serf, quean”), see quean. Generally eclipsed non-native Middle English regina (“queen”), borrowed from Latin rēgīna (“queen”) (see Modern English Regina). Doublet of quean and gyne.

gloss

"wife"; > Middle Low German <i class="Latn mention" lang="gml">quene</i> (“elderly woman”)

cog

αδερφή f (aderfí, literally “Sister, From the same uterus”)

For this cauſe that when he [the pawn] can procede so well in warre, as to arriue at the laſte rancke of hys enemies, he is choſen and made the beſt piece of the playe, to wit, he is the Quene.

1562, Damiano da Odemira, translated by Iames Rowbothum, The Pleasaunt and Wittie Playe of the Cheasts Renewed, with Instructions Both to Learne It Easely, and to Play It Well, London, page A7v:

And, further, let us ſuppoſe, that your King is at Liberty to attack his Pawns upon one Side of the Board, by reckoning how many moves it will take your King to march and take thoſe two Pawns, and alſo, by adding the Number of Moves, which will be neceſſary for you to make a Queen with one of your Pawns: You will, by this Method, find out the exact number of Moves, before you can make a Queen.

1761, Edmond Hoyle, An Essay Towards Making the Game of Chess Easily Learned, London, retrieved 2022-01-13, page 51:

Referring to one of several items used in tabletop games:

(chess) A chess piece that, under contemporary rules, is the most powerful, able to move any number of spaces horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.


queen

en-verb

queen (third-person singular simple present queens, present participle queening, simple past and past participle queened)

queens (present singular third-person)
queening (participle present)
queened (participle past)
queened (past)
queene (alternative obsolete)
quene (alternative obsolete)
queyne (alternative obsolete)

Neither King will be able to stop the opponent's pawns from queening, when the game should be a draw. In such cases, which side queens first, or queens with check, can make a crucial difference. In this case, White promotes his pawn first and is able to put this advantage to good use.

2003, Yasser Seirawan, Winning Chess Endings, London: Everyman Chess, →ISBN, page 39:


knight

From Middle English knight, knyght, kniht, from Old English cniht (“boy; servant, knight”), from Proto-West Germanic *kneht.

inh

(chess) A chess piece, often in the shape of a horse's head, that is moved two squares in one direction and one at right angles to that direction in a single move, leaping over any intervening pieces.

ло́шадь f (lóšadʹ) (proscribed for this sense)


knight

en-verb

knight (third-person singular simple present knights, present participle knighting, simple past and past participle knighted)

knights (present singular third-person)
knighting (participle present)
knighted (participle past)
knighted (past)

From Middle English knighten, kniȝten, from the noun. Cognate with Middle High German knehten.

(chess, transitive) To promote (a pawn) to a knight.


at

az-noun

at (definite accusative atı, plural atlar)

atı (accusative definite)
atlar (plural)
at (nominative singular)
atlar (nominative plural)
atı (accusative definite singular)
atları (accusative definite plural)
ata (dative singular)
atlara (dative plural)
atda (locative singular)
atlarda (locative plural)
atdan (ablative singular)
atlardan (ablative plural)
atın (definite genitive singular)
atların (definite genitive plural)
atım (first-person nominative possessive singular)
atlarım (first-person nominative possessive singular)
atın (nominative possessive second-person singular)
atların (nominative possessive second-person singular)
atı (nominative possessive singular third-person)
atları (nominative possessive singular third-person)
atımız (first-person nominative plural possessive)
atlarımız (first-person nominative plural possessive)
atınız (nominative plural possessive second-person)
atlarınız (nominative plural possessive second-person)
atı (nominative plural possessive third-person)
atları (nominative plural possessive third-person)
atımı (accusative first-person possessive singular)
atlarımı (accusative first-person possessive singular)
atını (accusative possessive second-person singular)
atlarını (accusative possessive second-person singular)
atını (accusative possessive singular third-person)
atlarını (accusative possessive singular third-person)
atımızı (accusative first-person plural possessive)
atlarımızı (accusative first-person plural possessive)
atınızı (accusative plural possessive second-person)
atlarınızı (accusative plural possessive second-person)
atını (accusative plural possessive third-person)
atlarını (accusative plural possessive third-person)
atıma (dative first-person possessive singular)
atlarıma (dative first-person possessive singular)
atına (dative possessive second-person singular)
atlarına (dative possessive second-person singular)
atına (dative possessive singular third-person)
atlarına (dative possessive singular third-person)
atımıza (dative first-person plural possessive)
atlarımıza (dative first-person plural possessive)
atınıza (dative plural possessive second-person)
atlarınıza (dative plural possessive second-person)
atına (dative plural possessive third-person)
atlarına (dative plural possessive third-person)
atımda (first-person locative possessive singular)
atlarımda (first-person locative possessive singular)
atında (locative possessive second-person singular)
atlarında (locative possessive second-person singular)
atında (locative possessive singular third-person)
atlarında (locative possessive singular third-person)
atımızda (first-person locative plural possessive)
atlarımızda (first-person locative plural possessive)
atınızda (locative plural possessive second-person)
atlarınızda (locative plural possessive second-person)
atında (locative plural possessive third-person)
atlarında (locative plural possessive third-person)
atımdan (ablative first-person possessive singular)
atlarımdan (ablative first-person possessive singular)
atından (ablative possessive second-person singular)
atlarından (ablative possessive second-person singular)
atından (ablative possessive singular third-person)
atlarından (ablative possessive singular third-person)
atımızdan (ablative first-person plural possessive)
atlarımızdan (ablative first-person plural possessive)
atınızdan (ablative plural possessive second-person)
atlarınızdan (ablative plural possessive second-person)
atından (ablative plural possessive third-person)
atlarından (ablative plural possessive third-person)
atımın (first-person genitive possessive singular)
atlarımın (first-person genitive possessive singular)
atının (genitive possessive second-person singular)
atlarının (genitive possessive second-person singular)
atının (genitive possessive singular third-person)
atlarının (genitive possessive singular third-person)
atımızın (first-person genitive plural possessive)
atlarımızın (first-person genitive plural possessive)
atınızın (genitive plural possessive second-person)
atlarınızın (genitive plural possessive second-person)
atının (genitive plural possessive third-person)
atlarının (genitive plural possessive third-person)


at

atı (accusative definite)
atlar (plural)
at (nominative singular)
atlar (nominative plural)
atı (accusative definite singular)
atları (accusative definite plural)
ata (dative singular)
atlara (dative plural)
atta (locative singular)
atlarda (locative plural)
attan (ablative singular)
atlardan (ablative plural)
atın (genitive singular)
atların (genitive plural)
atım (first-person nominative singular)
atlarım (first-person nominative singular)
atın (nominative second-person singular)
atların (nominative second-person singular)
atı (nominative singular third-person)
atları (nominative singular third-person)
atımız (first-person nominative plural)
atlarımız (first-person nominative plural)
atınız (nominative plural second-person)
atlarınız (nominative plural second-person)
atları (nominative plural third-person)
atımı (accusative definite first-person singular)
atlarımı (accusative definite first-person singular)
atını (accusative definite second-person singular)
atlarını (accusative definite second-person singular)
atını (accusative definite singular third-person)
atlarını (accusative definite singular third-person)
atımızı (accusative definite first-person plural)
atlarımızı (accusative definite first-person plural)
atınızı (accusative definite plural second-person)
atlarınızı (accusative definite plural second-person)
atlarını (accusative definite plural third-person)
atıma (dative first-person singular)
atlarıma (dative first-person singular)
atına (dative second-person singular)
atlarına (dative second-person singular)
atına (dative singular third-person)
atlarına (dative singular third-person)
atımıza (dative first-person plural)
atlarımıza (dative first-person plural)
atınıza (dative plural second-person)
atlarınıza (dative plural second-person)
atlarına (dative plural third-person)
atımda (first-person locative singular)
atlarımda (first-person locative singular)
atında (locative second-person singular)
atlarında (locative second-person singular)
atında (locative singular third-person)
atlarında (locative singular third-person)
atımızda (first-person locative plural)
atlarımızda (first-person locative plural)
atınızda (locative plural second-person)
atlarınızda (locative plural second-person)
atlarında (locative plural third-person)
atımdan (ablative first-person singular)
atlarımdan (ablative first-person singular)
atından (ablative second-person singular)
atlarından (ablative second-person singular)
atından (ablative singular third-person)
atlarından (ablative singular third-person)
atımızdan (ablative first-person plural)
atlarımızdan (ablative first-person plural)
atınızdan (ablative plural second-person)
atlarınızdan (ablative plural second-person)
atlarından (ablative plural third-person)
atımın (first-person genitive singular)
atlarımın (first-person genitive singular)
atının (genitive second-person singular)
atlarının (genitive second-person singular)
atının (genitive singular third-person)
atlarının (genitive singular third-person)
atımızın (first-person genitive plural)
atlarımızın (first-person genitive plural)
atınızın (genitive plural second-person)
atlarınızın (genitive plural second-person)
atlarının (genitive plural third-person)
atım (first-person singular)
atlarım (first-person singular)
atsın (second-person singular)
atlarsın (second-person singular)
at (singular third-person)
attır (singular third-person)
atlar (singular third-person)
atlardır (singular third-person)
atız (first-person plural)
atlarız (first-person plural)
atsınız (plural second-person)
atlarsınız (plural second-person)
atlar (plural third-person)
atlardır (plural third-person)

From Ottoman Turkish آت (at, “horse”), from Proto-Turkic *at, *ăt (“horse”). Cognate with Karakhanid اَتْ (at, “horse”), Old Turkic 𐱃 (t¹ /at/, “horse”).

at bulunur meydan bulunmaz, meydan bulunur at bulunmaz

at çalındıktan sonra ahırın kapısını kapamak


boom

en-verb

boom (third-person singular simple present booms, present participle booming, simple past and past participle boomed)

booms (present singular third-person)
booming (participle present)
boomed (participle past)
boomed (past)

Onomatopoeic, perhaps borrowed; compare German bummen, Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”). The sense "a period of economic growth" is generally taken to derive from the sense "a rapid expansion", although other origins have also been suggested.

It can get fast enough that it's hard to see what flashed on your screen though, so it would be nice if chess engines had a feature of persistently showing you what move they planned to play before they boomed, even if it took less than a second for them to figure it out.

2021 January 23, Bram Cohen, “You're doing computer chess game commentary wrong”, in Medium, archived from the original on 2022-12-06:

In its White game Stockfish had various moments of booming during these long thinks, but these long thinks always ended disappointingly in a slightly lower evaluation than it started with.

2022 April 22, Matthew Sadler, “TCEC Season 22 SuperFinal: Komodo Dragon vs Stockfish”, in TCEC, archived from the original on 2022-12-13:

(computer chess, slang) To rapidly adjust the evaluation of a position away from zero, indicating a likely win or loss.


boom

→ German: Boom

Indonesian: bum

→ Japanese: ブーム (būmu)

→ Polish: boom

→ Russian: бум (bum)

Some chess commentators know to excitedly point out when booms happen but they almost universally are missing out on the next step of explaining what the boom meant.

The evaluation boom and moob continued as Stockfish headed for a queen-rook-knight vs queen-rook-knight position that looked pretty nasty to me!

(computer chess, slang) An instance of booming.


quadruple

Ce tirage permettait plusieurs quadruples.

J'ai perdu une douzaine de points sur un difficile "mosaique" en quadruple.

I lost a dozen points on a difficult quadruple "mosaic".

(Scrabble) a move whose score is multiplied by four

Le quadruple en colonne 5 reste ouvert avec la séquence "ena" ou "ene".

The quadruple on column 5 remains open with the sequence "ena" or "ene".

(Scrabble) the area on the board where such a move is possible


flower

Unadapted borrowing from English flower.

(mahjong) act of declaring and revealing a flower or season tile and in order drawing a replacement tile


hole

→ Japanese: ホール (hōru)

→ Korean: 홀 (hol)

Sranan Tongo: olo

Inherited from Middle English hole, hol, from Old English hol (“orifice, hollow place, cavity”), from Proto-West Germanic *hol, from Proto-Germanic *hulą (“hollow space, cavity”), noun derivative of Proto-Germanic *hulaz (“hollow”), which is of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to hollow.

отво́р

orifice (see anus etc. for specific body cavities)

know one's ass from a hole in the ground

know one's head from a hole in the ground

know the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground

(chess) A square on the board, with some positional significance, that a player does not, and cannot in the future, control with a friendly pawn.


wood

en-noun

wood (countable and uncountable, plural woods)

Sranan Tongo: udu

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English wode, from Old English wudu, widu (“wood, forest, grove; tree; timber”), from Proto-West Germanic *widu, from Proto-Germanic *widuz (“wood”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate”).
Cognate with Dutch wede (“wood, twig”), Middle High German wite (“wood”), Danish ved (“wood”), Swedish ved (“firewood”), Icelandic viður (“wood”). Further cognates include Irish fiodh (“a wood, tree”), Irish fid (“tree”) and Welsh gwŷdd (“trees”), from Proto-Celtic *widus (“wood”). Unrelated to Dutch woud (“forest”), German Wald (“forest”) (see English wold).

der

[…] White has nothing but a lot of frozen wood on the board while Black operates on the Q-side.

1971, Chess Life & Review, volume 26, page 309:

(chess, uncountable, slang) Chess pieces.


finale

(chess) endgame, end game (moment in the game when the threat of checkmate is low and the kings participate in the struggle)


retreat

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-retreat.wav

From Middle English retret, from Old French retrait or retret, from Latin retractus, from retraho. Doublet of retract, retrait, and ritratto.

doublet

(chess) The move of a piece from a threatened position.


alo

eo-head

alo (accusative singular alon, plural aloj, accusative plural alojn)

alon (accusative singular)
aloj (plural)
alojn (accusative plural)

(chess) flank, wing (left or right side of the chessboard)


CM

en-noun

CM (countable and uncountable, plural CMs)

Sense "commercial" is a borrowing from Japanese CM (CM, “commercial video ad”), from English commercial + message.


piece

pieces (plural)
peece (alternative obsolete)

Belizean Creole: pees

Sranan Tongo: pisi

→ Finnish: biisi

→ Irish: píosa

→ Japanese: ピース (pīsu)

→ Scottish Gaelic: pìos

From Middle English pece, peece, peice, from Old French piece, from Late Latin petia, pettia, possibly from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis (“piece, portion, quota”); doublet of English fit, fytte, fytt (“musical piece, chapter”), Icelandic fit (“web”), German Fitze (“skein”), from Old High German *fitjâ. Compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid. Compare French pièce, Portuguese peça, Spanish pieza, Italian pezza, Italian pezzo.

der

Pawns, unlike pieces, move only in one direction: forward.

1959, Hans Kmoch, Pawn Power in Chess, section I:

(chess) One of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distinguished from a pawn; (by extension) those with which draughts, backgammon, and other similar board games are played.

قِطْعَة

chess: figure other than pawn; similar counter in other games


re

→ Maltese: re

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-
Proto-Indo-European *-s
Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs
Proto-Italic *rēks
Latin rēx
Italian re
Inherited from Latin rēx, via the nominative singular, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”). Doublet of rege, which was borrowed from Latin via the accusative rēgem.


re

Borrowed from Sicilian re and/or Italian re, from Latin rēx.


wieża

wieżyczka (diminutive)
wieża (nominative singular)
wieże (nominative plural)
wieży (genitive singular)
wież (genitive plural)
wieży (dative singular)
wieżom (dative plural)
wieżę (accusative singular)
wieże (accusative plural)
wieżą (instrumental singular)
wieżami (instrumental plural)
wieży (locative singular)
wieżach (locative plural)
wieżo (singular vocative)
wieże (plural vocative)

Inherited from Old Polish wieża, from Proto-Slavic *věža.


regina

regine (plural)
re (masculine)
reina (alternative)

→ Maltese: reġina

Inherited from Latin rēgīna; cognate with Spanish reina.


regina

la-noun

rēgīna f (genitive rēgīnae, masculine rēx); first declension

rēgīna (canonical feminine)
rēgīnae (genitive)
rēx (masculine)
rēgīna (nominative singular)
rēgīnae (nominative plural)
rēgīnae (genitive singular)
rēgīnārum (genitive plural)
rēgīnae (dative singular)
rēgīnīs (dative plural)
rēgīnam (accusative singular)
rēgīnās (accusative plural)
rēgīnā (ablative singular)
rēgīnīs (ablative plural)
rēgīna (singular vocative)
rēgīnae (plural vocative)

Asturian: reina

Franco-Provençal: rêna

Friulian: reìne

desctree

Italian: regina, reina (archaic, poetic, Old Roman)
→ Maltese: reġina

Neapolitan: riggina

Old French: royne
French: reine
Norman: royne, ranne, reine
Walloon: royinne
→ Old East Slavic: ръ́ина (rŷ́ina)

Old Galician-Portuguese: reinha, reỹa, reynna, reýña, reyña, rreýña, rreyña, rainha, raynna, raỹa, rayña
Galician: raíña
Portuguese: rainha

Old Occitan: reina
Occitan: reina

Old Spanish: reyna
Spanish: reina (see there for further descendants)

Romansch: regina, rigegna, raïna

Sardinian: reina, arreina

desc

Sicilian: rijina (obsolete), riggina (influenced by Italian)

Venetan: rexina

Walloon: royinne

→ Basque: erregina

→ English: Regina, regina

→ Interlingua: regina

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: regina

→ Romanian: regină

→ Translingual: Regina

Inherited from Proto-Italic *rēgīnā, see there for more. A feminine counterpart to rēx, rēgis (“king”).


pin

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: pins

→ Polish: pin

→ Spanish: pin

→ Swahili: pini

→ Swedish: pin, pins

From Middle English pinne, from Old English pinn (“pin, peg, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *pinnaz, *pinnō, *pint- (“protruding point, peak, peg, pin, nail”), from Proto-Indo-European *bend- (“protruding object, pointed peg, nail, edge”). Related to pen (“enclosure”).
Cognate with Dutch pin (“peg, pin”), Low German pin, pinne (“pin, point, nail, peg”), German Pinn, Pinne (“pin, tack, peg”), Bavarian Pfonzer, Pfunzer (“sharpened point”), Danish pind (“pin, pointed stick”), Norwegian pinn (“stick”), Swedish pinne (“peg, rod, stick”), Icelandic pinni (“pin”). More at pintle.
No relation to classical Latin pinna (“fin, flipper, wing-like appendage, wing, feather”), which was extended to mean "ridge, peak, point" (compare pinnacle), and often confused with Latin penna (“wing, feather”). More at feather and pen (Etymology 3).

cog

(chess) Either a scenario in which moving a lesser piece to escape from attack would expose a more valuable piece to being taken instead, or one where moving a piece is impossible as it would place the king in check.


pin

en-verb

pin (third-person singular simple present pins, present participle pinning, simple past and past participle pinned)

pins (present singular third-person)
pinning (participle present)
pinned (participle past)
pinned (past)

(chess, usually passive voice) To cause (a piece) to be in a pin.


bind

en-noun

bind (countable and uncountable, plural binds)

From Middle English binden, from Old English bindan, from Proto-West Germanic *bindan, from Proto-Germanic *bindaną (compare West Frisian bine, Dutch binden, Low German binnen, binden, German binden, Danish binde), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéndʰ-e-ti, from *bʰendʰ- (“to tie”).
Compare Welsh ben (“cart”), Latin offendīx (“knot, band”), Lithuanian beñdras (“partner”), Albanian bind (“to convince, to awe, to spell”), Ancient Greek πεῖσμα (peîsma, “cable, rope”), Persian بستن (bastan, “to bind”), Sanskrit बन्धति (bándhati). Doublet of bandana.

cog

the Maróczy Bind

(chess, countable) A strong grip or stranglehold on a position, which is difficult for the opponent to break.


bust

en-verb

bust (third-person singular simple present busts, present participle busting, simple past and past participle busted or bust)

busts (present singular third-person)
busting (participle present)
busted (participle past)
busted (past)
bust (participle past)
bust (past)

From Middle English busten, a variant of Middle English bursten, bresten (“to burst”). Compare German Low German basten and barsten (“to burst”). More at burst.

So is the King's Gambit really busted?

2012 April 2, Frederic Friedel, “Rajlich: Busting the King's Gambit, this time for sure”, in ChessBase:

(chess, slang) To refute an established opening.


bust

(chess, slang) A refutation of an opening, or of a previously published analysis.


hang

hang (third-person singular simple present hangs, present participle hanging, simple past and past participle hung or (law) hanged)

hangs (present singular third-person)
hanging (participle present)
hung (participle past)
hung (past)
hanged (participle past)
hanged (past)

From Middle English hangen, hongen, from a fusion of Old English hōn (“to hang, be hanging”, transitive verb) and hangian (“to hang, cause to hang”, intransitive verb), from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han and *hangēn; also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja (“to suspend”) and hanga (“to be suspended”); all from Proto-Germanic *hanhaną, *hangāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenk- (“to waver, be in suspense”).
See also Dutch hangen, Low German hangen and hängen, German hängen, Norwegian Bokmål henge, Norwegian Nynorsk henga; also Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (hāhan), Hittite 𒂵𒀀𒀭𒂵 (/kānk-/, “to hang”), Sanskrit शङ्कते (śáṅkate, “is in doubt, hesitates”), Latin cūnctārī (“to delay”).

cog

give someone enough rope and they'll hang themself

one may as well hang for a sheep as a lamb

If you move there, you'll hang your rook.

(transitive, chess) To cause (a piece) to become vulnerable to capture.

vystavit

chess: to cause to become vulnerable to capture

In this standard opening position White has to be careful because the pawn on e4 hangs.

(intransitive, chess) To be vulnerable to capture.


一

Borrowing from Mandarin 一 (yī) in the Qing Dynasty.


象

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (象):
* → Japanese: 象(ぞう) (zō); 象(しょう) (shō)
* → Korean: 상(象) (sang)
* → Vietnamese: tượng (象)

→? Bulgar: (from 象 (OC *s-[d]aŋʔ))

Chuvash: сӑлан (sălan)

>? Proto-Slavic: *slonъ

→ Proto-Common Turkic: *yaŋan (from *žaŋga(n) < 象 (MC zjangX))

Old Uyghur: 𐽶𐽰𐽺𐽷𐽰 (yaŋa)

Western Yugur: yaŋan

→ Kalmyk: зан (zan)

→ Mongolian: заан (zaan)

→ Proto-Tai: *ɟaːŋꟲ (“elephant”)

Lao: ຊ້າງ (sāng)

Lü: ᦋᦱᧂᧉ (tsaang²)

Northern Thai: ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ (cang)

Saek: ซาง

Shan: ၸၢင်ႉ (tsâ̰ang)

Tai Dam: ꪋ꫁ꪱꪉ

Tai Nüa: ᥓᥣᥒᥳ (tsȧang)

Thai: ช้าง (cháang)

desc

→ Proto-Lolo-Burmese: *tsaŋ (“elephant”)

Burmese: ဆင် (hcang)

→ Proto-Monic: *ciiŋ ("elephant")

Mon: စိၚ် (coiŋ)

→ Proto-Vietic: *ʔa-ɟaːŋ (“elephant”)

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²⁴²/

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²⁴²/

Pictogram (象形) - pictographic representation of an elephant. ⺈ represents the trunk, 𫩏 represents the head, and 𧰨 represents the body.
This character is used to represent two semantic fields ‘elephant; tusk’ and ‘to outline; to depict; to delineate; to represent; to resemble; to map’. Both fields are found from the earliest layers of the edited literature onwards, whereas only the first meaning is amply attested in oracle bone inscriptions.
Traditionally, the two senses are treated as related, with the sense of ‘to depict; to resemble’ considered a derivative of the sense of ‘elephant’. The derivation from the ‘elephant’ meaning to the ‘likeness’ meaning is explained in Han Feizi First attested in c. 221 BCE: “Men rarely see living elephants. As they come by the skeleton of a dead elephant, they imagine its living form according to its features. Therefore it comes to pass that whatever people use for imagining the real is called 象.”
Modern etymology studies on Old Chinese have challenged this opinion.
As for the ‘elephant; tusk’ sense, this is a widely used area word in East and Southeast Asia. Literature opinions differ on the origin and immediate relationship of this Chinese word; some (e.g. Schuessler, 2007) believe the Chinese form is a loanword from a Southern language, since it is unlikely that peoples all over Southeast Asia and the Himalayan foothills would borrow a word from Northern China to denote an indigenous animal. Others believe the direction of borrowing is reversed (i.e. Tai-Kadai borrowing from Chinese), and that Chinese 象 should be compared with Tibetan གླང (glang), གླང་ཆེན (glang chen, “elephant”) arising from a common Proto-Sino-Tibetan *glaŋ (“ox, bull; elephant”), which may ultimately have an Austroasiatic origin (Schuessler, 1994 (unpublished) apud Behr, 2004a; cf. Old Mon draṅ (draŋ), [script needed] (graŋ, “animal horn, elephant tusk”), Mon ဂြၚ် (krɛ̀aŋ, “horn, tusk”) and Kharia ɖeɽeŋ from Proto-Austroasiatic *krɨŋ (“horn”)). The second viewpoint is supported by the early attestation of this character and the archaeological findings of the historical ranges of elephants. However, Schuessler disputes that second viewpoint and links ST *glaŋ to 犅 (OC *klaːŋ, “ox, bull”).
See below for a tentative borrowing history of the various forms of this general area word.

inh

(xiangqi) elephant: 🩩 (on the black side) (Classifier: 隻／只 c)


士

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (士):
* → Japanese: 士(し) (shi)
* → Korean: 사(士) (sa)
* → Vietnamese: sĩ (士)

Pictogram (象形) – a war axe. Later, it took the meaning of "soldier" and eventually "officer, intellectual". Partly related to 王 since in at least two characters it should represent a ritual axe, perhaps made of jade: in fact, it is related to 圭 and 金 despite their appearance.
;"bachelor, man, male"
:*Reminiscent of Austroasiatic synonyms like Old Khmer si (“male”) or MK words for "man, male" like *ʔŋsiil, *ensir, *kəsəy on the Malay Peninsula; Schuessler (2007) noted that foreign *-r sometimes left traces in OC initial complex. These relations, if, valid, would keep 士₁ "bachelor, man, male" distinct from 士₂ "servant, retainer, officer, scholar".
;"take or give an office, serve", "servant", "retainer", "officer", "scholar"
:*Schuessler (2007) noted that one could naturally assume the semantic development "male > man > servant > to serve" in order to posit that 士₁ "bachelor, man, male" is the same word as 士₂ "servant, retainer, officer, scholar". Yet, the exopassive derivation 事 (OC *ʔsrɯs, *zrɯs) "assignment, affair, thing" and Tibeto-Burman counterparts demonstrated no association with "man, maleness"; & "male" hardly derives from "to serve".
:*Therefore, Schuessler derived these forms from 理 (OC *rɯʔ) "envoy, jail official, matchmaker" & proposed ultimate Austroasiatic origins. In terms of phonology, MC *dʐ- normally does not occur with *l- and *ʂ in an ST word-family, apparently confirming a non-ST provenance; however, MC *dʐ- here could go back to OC *s-r- (unlike MC *ʂ-, which is from OC *sr)
:*Subsequenly, Schuessler posited either relation to Austroasiatic or OC loan into Tibeto-Burman as Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ʔ-dzəj (“send on an errant”) (Matisoff, 2003), whence Burmese စာ (ca, “thing”) & Tibetan རྫས (rdzas, “thing, matter, object”) (Gong, 1999). Even so, Tibeto-Burman cognates of this etymon and 所 (suǒ) are difficult to distinguish.

cog

(xiangqi) adviser; guard; minister: 🩨 (usually only on the black side, in some sets on both red and black sides)


increment

/ˈɪŋkɹɪmn̩t/

From Middle English encrement, increment, from Latin incrēmentum, from incrēscō (whence increase), from in- + crēscō (“grow”). Equivalent to increase + -ment.

(chess) The amount of time added to a player's clock after each move.


tore

Borrowed from Spanish torre. Displaced moog.


torn

torn (indefinite nominative singular)
torns (genitive indefinite singular)
tornet (definite nominative singular)
tornets (definite genitive singular)
torn (indefinite nominative plural)
torns (genitive indefinite plural)
tornen (definite nominative plural)
tornens (definite genitive plural)

From Old Norse turn, from Middle Low German tōrn, tōren, from Old French tor, from Latin turris, from Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis), τύρσις (túrsis), from a Mediterranean substrate loan.


cook

Sranan Tongo: kukru (via cook room)

Aukan: kukuu

Tok Pisin: kuk

→ Norman: couque

→ Portuguese: cuca

→ Thai: กุ๊ก (gúk)

→ Tokelauan: kuka

From Middle English cook, from Old English cōc (“a cook”), from Latin cocus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- (“to cook, become ripe”).
Cognate with Low German kokk, Dutch kok, German Koch, Danish kok, Norwegian kokk, Swedish kock, Icelandic kokkur (“cook”). Also compare Proto-West Germanic *kokōn (“to cook”).

inh

Audio (UK) "to cook"

cuck (most accents without the foot-strut split)

The original endgame was one file to the right (Kf1, Kb5 etc.). But there is a cook after 1. c6 dxc6 2. d6 cxd6 3. h4 gxh3 e.p. 4. gxh3 Ka4! 5. h4 b5. My version eliminates the cook.

2003 June, Pal Benko, “Endgame Lab”, in Chess Life, volume 58, number 6, New Windsor, N.Y.: United States Chess Federation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 49:

(chess) An unintended solution to a chess problem, considered to spoil the problem.


cover

en-verb

cover (third-person singular simple present covers, present participle covering, simple past and past participle covered)

covers (present singular third-person)
covering (participle present)
covered (participle past)
covered (past)

→ German: covern

→ Danish: lave en cover

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Old Latin com
Latin cum
Latin con-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi
Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Latin operiō
Latin cooperiō
Old French covrirbor.
Middle English coveren
English cover
From Middle English coveren, borrowed from Old French covrir, cueuvrir (modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperiō (“I cover completely”), from co- (intensive prefix) + operiō (“I close, cover”). Displaced native Middle English thecchen and bethecchen (“to cover”) (from Old English þeccan, beþeccan (“to cover”)), Middle English helen, (over)helen, (for)helen (“to cover, conceal”) (from Old English helan (“to conceal, cover, hide”)), Middle English wrien, (be)wreon (“to cover”) (from Old English (be)wrēon (“to cover”)), Middle English hodren, hothren (“to cover up”) (from Low German hudren (“to cover up”)).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the original sense of the verb and noun cover was “hide from view” as in its cognate covert. Except in the limited sense of “cover again”, the word recover is unrelated and is cognate with recuperate. Cognate with Spanish cubrir (“to cover”).

cog

In order to checkmate a king on the side of the board, the five squares adjacent to the king must all be covered.

(chess, transitive) To protect or control (a piece or square).


camel

→ Coeur d'Alene: keemel

→ Eastern Arrernte: kamule

→ Tsonga: kamela

From Middle English camel, through Old English camel and Old Northern French camel (Old French chamel, modern French chameau), from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), from a Semitic source, ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-; compare Arabic جَمَل (jamal), Hebrew גמל (gamál), Aramaic ܓܡܠܐ (gamlā), Coptic ϭⲁⲙⲟⲩⲗ (camoul). As a marine device, from Dutch. As an ethnic slur, short for camelfucker, camel jockey, etc.

a camel is a horse designed by a committee

it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

(chess) A fairy chess piece that is moved three squares in one direction and one at right angles to that direction in a single move, leaping over any intervening pieces.


castle

→ Tongan: kāsolo

From Middle English castle, castel, from late Old English castel, castell (“a town, village”), borrowed from Late Latin castellum (“small camp, fort”), diminutive of Latin castrum (“camp, fort, citadel, stronghold”). Doublet of cashel, castell, castellum, and château.
Parallel borrowings (from Late Latin or Old French) are Scots castel, castell (“castle”), West Frisian kastiel (“castle”), Dutch kasteel (“castle”), German Kastell (“castle”), Danish kastel (“citadel”), Swedish kastell (“citadel”), Icelandic kastali (“castle”), Welsh castell.
The late Old English word was borrowed from biblical Latin castellum which has been translated as town or village. With the sense of castle, from Anglo-Norman/Old Northern French castel (“castle”), itself from Late Latin castellum (“small camp, fort”) (compare modern French château from Old French chastel). If Latin castrum (“camp, fort, citadel, stronghold”) is from Proto-Indo-European *kat- (“hut, shed”), Latin casa (“cottage, hut”) is related. Possibly related also to Gothic 𐌷𐌴𐌸𐌾𐍉 (hēþjō, “chamber”), Old English heaþor (“restraint, confinement, enclosure, prison”). See also casino, cassock.

cog

(chess, informal) A rook; a chess piece shaped like a castle tower.

(shogi) A defense structure in shogi formed by defensive pieces surrounding the king.


castle

en-verb

castle (third-person singular simple present castles, present participle castling, simple past and past participle castled)

castles (present singular third-person)
castling (participle present)
castled (participle past)
castled (past)

He [i.e., the king] may change (or Castle) with this Rooke, that is, he may goe two draughts at once towards this Rooke... causing the Rooke to stand next to him on either side.

1656, Gioachino Greco, translated by Francis Beale, The Royall Game of Chesse-Play, Being the Study of Biochimo, page 8:

No. 24. ¶ If your adversary make a false move, castle improperly, &c., you must take notice of such irregularity before you move, or even touch a piece, or you are no longer allowed to inflict any penalties.

1835, William Lewis, Chess for Beginners, Ch. 5, p. 24:

If a player having the move: […] touches his/her king and a rook he/she must castle on that side if it is legal to do so

2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, page 9:

(usually intransitive, chess) To move the king 2 squares right or left and, in the same turn, the nearest rook to the far side of the king. The move now has special rules: the king cannot be in, go through, or end in check; the squares between the king and rook must be vacant; and neither piece may have been moved before castling.

(usually intransitive, shogi) To create a similar defensive position in Japanese chess through several moves.


pawn

From Middle English pown, from Anglo-Norman poun, paun (“footman”), from Late Latin pedōnem (“pedestrian”), derived from Latin ped- (“foot”). Doublet of peon.

(chess) The most numerous chess piece, or a similar piece in a similar game. In chess, each side starts with eight; moves are only forward, and attacks are only diagonally or en passant.


checkmate

From Middle English chekmat, from Old French eschec mat, from Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta), from Classical Persian شاه مات (šāh māt, “the king [is] amazed”).

der

Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta)

(chess) Word called out by the victor when making a move that wins the game.


checkmate

en-verb

checkmate (third-person singular simple present checkmates, present participle checkmating, simple past and past participle checkmated)

checkmates (present singular third-person)
checkmating (participle present)
checkmated (participle past)
checkmated (past)

der

Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta)

My opponent checkmated me in four moves!

The game is won by the player who has checkmated his/her opponent’s king.

2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, page 10:

(transitive, chess) To put the king of an opponent into checkmate.


house

en-noun

house (countable and uncountable, plural houses or (dialectal) housen or (chiefly humorous) hice)

houses (plural)
housen (dialectal plural)
hice (humorous plural)
howse (alternative obsolete)

Chinese Pidgin English: houso

Nigerian Pidgin: haus

Tok Pisin: haus

Sranan Tongo: oso
→ Dutch: osso

→ Cantonese: house (hau¹ si²)

→ Japanese: ハウス (hausu)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH-der.?
Proto-Germanic *hūsą
Proto-West Germanic *hūs
Old English hūs
Middle English hous
English house
From Middle English hous, hus, from Old English hūs (“dwelling, shelter, house”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūs, from Proto-Germanic *hūsą, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kews-, from *(s)kewH- (“to cover, hide”).
See also Scots hoose, West Frisian hûs, Dutch huis, German Haus, German Low German Huus, Danish hus, Faroese hús, Icelandic hús, Norwegian Bokmål hus, Norwegian Nynorsk hus and Swedish hus.
Eclipsed non-native Middle English meson, measoun (“house”), borrowed from Old French maison (“house”). More at hose. The uncommon plural form housen is from Middle English husen, housen. (The Old English nominative plural was simply hūs.)

huis

debating chamber for government politicians

a house divided against itself cannot stand

it takes a heap of living to make a house a home

it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home

it takes a lot of living to make a house a home

the call is coming from inside the house

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

(chess, now rare) A square on a chessboard, regarded as the proper place of a piece.


sharp

en-adj

sharp (comparative sharper, superlative sharpest)

sharper (comparative)
sharpest (superlative)

bland

antonym(s) of “having an intense and acrid flavour”

From Middle English scharp, from Old English sċearp, from Proto-West Germanic *skarp, from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb-, from *(s)ker- (“to cut”).
Cognate with West Frisian skerp, Low German scherp, scharp, schaarp, Dutch scherp, German scharf, Danish skarp. Compare Irish cearb (“keen; cutting”), Latin acerbus (“tart, bitter”), Tocharian B kärpye (“rough”), Latvian skârbs (“sharp, rough”), Russian щерба (ščerba, “notch”), Polish szczerba (“gap, dent, jag, chip, nick, notch”), Albanian harb (“rudeness”). More at shear.

better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick

Time and time again, the amateur player has lost the opportunity to make the really best move because he felt bound to follow some chess "rule" he had learned, rather than to make the sharp move which was indicated by the position.

1963, Max Euwe, Chess Master Vs. Chess Amateur, page xviii:

In such situations most chess players choose the obvious and logical way: they go in for sharp play. However, not everyone is a natural attacking player[…]

1975, Luděk Pachman, Decisive Games in Chess History, page 64:


push

en-verb

push (third-person singular simple present pushes, present participle pushing, simple past and past participle pushed)

pushes (present singular third-person)
pushing (participle present)
pushed (participle past)
pushed (past)
push (infinitive)
push (first-person present singular)
pushed (first-person past singular)
push (present second-person singular)
pushest (archaic present second-person singular)
pushed (past second-person singular)
pushedst (archaic past second-person singular)
pushes (present singular third-person)
pusheth (archaic present singular third-person)
pushed (past singular third-person)
push (plural present)
pushed (past plural)
push (present subjunctive)
pushed (past subjunctive)
push (imperative present)
pushing (participle present)
pushed (participle past)

From Middle English pushen, poshen, posson, borrowed from Middle French pousser (Modern French pousser) from Old French poulser, from Latin pulsare (“to beat, strike”), frequentative of pellere (past participle pulsus). Doublet of pulsate and pulse (verb). Partly displaced native Old English sċūfan, whence Modern English shove.

(chess, transitive) To move (a pawn) directly forward.


castling

en-noun

castling (usually uncountable, plural castlings)

From Middle English castellinge, equivalent to castle (verb) + -ing.

Castling is prevented temporarily: […] If there is any piece between the king and the rook with which castling is to be effected.

2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, pages 7, 8:

(chess) A move in which the king moves two squares towards a rook, and the rook moves to the other side of the king; the action of the verb to castle.

(shogi) The act of constructing a defense structure in Japanese chess in which the king (玉) is positioned in a certain way so that it is protected by pawns (歩) and silver general(s) (銀) and/or gold general(s) (金) often with an additional knight (桂) and lance (香車).


kral

kralik (diminutive)
kral (nominative singular)
kralej (dual nominative)
krale (nominative plural)
krala (genitive singular)
kralow (dual genitive)
kralow (genitive plural)
kralej (dative singular)
kralomaj (dative dual)
kralam (dative plural)
krala (accusative singular)
kralej (accusative dual)
krale (accusative plural)
kralom (instrumental singular)
kralomaj (dual instrumental)
kralemi (instrumental plural)
kralu (locative singular)
kralomaj (dual locative)
kralach (locative plural)
kralo (singular vocative)
kralej (dual vocative)
krale (plural vocative)


fil

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish فیل (fil).


fil

az-noun

fil (definite accusative fili, plural fillər)

fili (accusative definite)
fillər (plural)
fil (nominative singular)
fillər (nominative plural)
fili (accusative definite singular)
filləri (accusative definite plural)
filə (dative singular)
fillərə (dative plural)
fildə (locative singular)
fillərdə (locative plural)
fildən (ablative singular)
fillərdən (ablative plural)
filin (definite genitive singular)
fillərin (definite genitive plural)
filim (first-person nominative possessive singular)
fillərim (first-person nominative possessive singular)
filin (nominative possessive second-person singular)
fillərin (nominative possessive second-person singular)
fili (nominative possessive singular third-person)
filləri (nominative possessive singular third-person)
filimiz (first-person nominative plural possessive)
fillərimiz (first-person nominative plural possessive)
filiniz (nominative plural possessive second-person)
filləriniz (nominative plural possessive second-person)
fili (nominative plural possessive third-person)
filləri (nominative plural possessive third-person)
filimi (accusative first-person possessive singular)
fillərimi (accusative first-person possessive singular)
filini (accusative possessive second-person singular)
fillərini (accusative possessive second-person singular)
filini (accusative possessive singular third-person)
fillərini (accusative possessive singular third-person)
filimizi (accusative first-person plural possessive)
fillərimizi (accusative first-person plural possessive)
filinizi (accusative plural possessive second-person)
fillərinizi (accusative plural possessive second-person)
filini (accusative plural possessive third-person)
fillərini (accusative plural possessive third-person)
filimə (dative first-person possessive singular)
fillərimə (dative first-person possessive singular)
filinə (dative possessive second-person singular)
fillərinə (dative possessive second-person singular)
filinə (dative possessive singular third-person)
fillərinə (dative possessive singular third-person)
filimizə (dative first-person plural possessive)
fillərimizə (dative first-person plural possessive)
filinizə (dative plural possessive second-person)
fillərinizə (dative plural possessive second-person)
filinə (dative plural possessive third-person)
fillərinə (dative plural possessive third-person)
filimdə (first-person locative possessive singular)
fillərimdə (first-person locative possessive singular)
filində (locative possessive second-person singular)
fillərində (locative possessive second-person singular)
filində (locative possessive singular third-person)
fillərində (locative possessive singular third-person)
filimizdə (first-person locative plural possessive)
fillərimizdə (first-person locative plural possessive)
filinizdə (locative plural possessive second-person)
fillərinizdə (locative plural possessive second-person)
filində (locative plural possessive third-person)
fillərində (locative plural possessive third-person)
filimdən (ablative first-person possessive singular)
fillərimdən (ablative first-person possessive singular)
filindən (ablative possessive second-person singular)
fillərindən (ablative possessive second-person singular)
filindən (ablative possessive singular third-person)
fillərindən (ablative possessive singular third-person)
filimizdən (ablative first-person plural possessive)
fillərimizdən (ablative first-person plural possessive)
filinizdən (ablative plural possessive second-person)
fillərinizdən (ablative plural possessive second-person)
filindən (ablative plural possessive third-person)
fillərindən (ablative plural possessive third-person)
filimin (first-person genitive possessive singular)
fillərimin (first-person genitive possessive singular)
filinin (genitive possessive second-person singular)
fillərinin (genitive possessive second-person singular)
filinin (genitive possessive singular third-person)
fillərinin (genitive possessive singular third-person)
filimizin (first-person genitive plural possessive)
fillərimizin (first-person genitive plural possessive)
filinizin (genitive plural possessive second-person)
fillərinizin (genitive plural possessive second-person)
filinin (genitive plural possessive third-person)
fillərinin (genitive plural possessive third-person)

→ Georgian: ფილ (pil) — Ingilo


fil

fil (nominative singular)
filler (nominative plural)
filniñ (genitive singular)
fillerniñ (genitive plural)
filge (dative singular)
fillerge (dative plural)
filni (accusative singular)
fillerni (accusative plural)
filde (locative singular)
fillerde (locative plural)
filden (ablative singular)
fillerden (ablative plural)


fil

Inherited from Classical Persian فِیل (fīl).


fil

head

fil (definite accusative fili, plural filler)

fili (accusative definite)
filler (plural)
fil (nominative singular)
filler (nominative plural)
fili (accusative definite singular)
filleri (accusative definite plural)
file (dative singular)
fillere (dative plural)
filde (locative singular)
fillerde (locative plural)
filden (ablative singular)
fillerden (ablative plural)
filin (genitive singular)
fillerin (genitive plural)
filim (first-person nominative singular)
fillerim (first-person nominative singular)
filin (nominative second-person singular)
fillerin (nominative second-person singular)
fili (nominative singular third-person)
filleri (nominative singular third-person)
filimiz (first-person nominative plural)
fillerimiz (first-person nominative plural)
filiniz (nominative plural second-person)
filleriniz (nominative plural second-person)
filleri (nominative plural third-person)
filimi (accusative definite first-person singular)
fillerimi (accusative definite first-person singular)
filini (accusative definite second-person singular)
fillerini (accusative definite second-person singular)
filini (accusative definite singular third-person)
fillerini (accusative definite singular third-person)
filimizi (accusative definite first-person plural)
fillerimizi (accusative definite first-person plural)
filinizi (accusative definite plural second-person)
fillerinizi (accusative definite plural second-person)
fillerini (accusative definite plural third-person)
filime (dative first-person singular)
fillerime (dative first-person singular)
filine (dative second-person singular)
fillerine (dative second-person singular)
filine (dative singular third-person)
fillerine (dative singular third-person)
filimize (dative first-person plural)
fillerimize (dative first-person plural)
filinize (dative plural second-person)
fillerinize (dative plural second-person)
fillerine (dative plural third-person)
filimde (first-person locative singular)
fillerimde (first-person locative singular)
filinde (locative second-person singular)
fillerinde (locative second-person singular)
filinde (locative singular third-person)
fillerinde (locative singular third-person)
filimizde (first-person locative plural)
fillerimizde (first-person locative plural)
filinizde (locative plural second-person)
fillerinizde (locative plural second-person)
fillerinde (locative plural third-person)
filimden (ablative first-person singular)
fillerimden (ablative first-person singular)
filinden (ablative second-person singular)
fillerinden (ablative second-person singular)
filinden (ablative singular third-person)
fillerinden (ablative singular third-person)
filimizden (ablative first-person plural)
fillerimizden (ablative first-person plural)
filinizden (ablative plural second-person)
fillerinizden (ablative plural second-person)
fillerinden (ablative plural third-person)
filimin (first-person genitive singular)
fillerimin (first-person genitive singular)
filinin (genitive second-person singular)
fillerinin (genitive second-person singular)
filinin (genitive singular third-person)
fillerinin (genitive singular third-person)
filimizin (first-person genitive plural)
fillerimizin (first-person genitive plural)
filinizin (genitive plural second-person)
fillerinizin (genitive plural second-person)
fillerinin (genitive plural third-person)
filim (first-person singular)
fillerim (first-person singular)
filsin (second-person singular)
fillersin (second-person singular)
fil (singular third-person)
fildir (singular third-person)
filler (singular third-person)
fillerdir (singular third-person)
filiz (first-person plural)
filleriz (first-person plural)
filsiniz (plural second-person)
fillersiniz (plural second-person)
filler (plural third-person)
fillerdir (plural third-person)

From Ottoman Turkish فیل (fil), from Arabic فِيل (fīl), from Persian پیل (pil) (and from alternate Ottoman Turkish پیل (pil), directly from Persian پیل (pil)), from Akkadian 𒄠𒋛 (pīru), related to Egyptian ꜣbw (root of English elephant).


fil

fillar (plural)
fil (nominative singular)
fillar (nominative plural)
filning (genitive singular)
fillarning (genitive plural)
filga (dative singular)
fillarga (dative plural)
filni (accusative definite singular)
fillarni (accusative definite plural)
filda (locative singular)
fillarda (locative plural)
fildan (ablative singular)
fillardan (ablative plural)
fildek (singular)
fillardek (plural)
filim (first-person nominative singular)
fillarim (first-person nominative)
filimning (first-person genitive singular)
fillarimning (first-person genitive)
filimga (dative first-person singular)
fillarimga (dative first-person)
filimni (accusative definite first-person singular)
fillarimni (accusative definite first-person)
filimda (first-person locative singular)
fillarimda (first-person locative)
filimdan (ablative first-person singular)
fillarimdan (ablative first-person)
filimdek (first-person singular)
fillarimdek (first-person)
filing (nominative second-person singular)
fillaring (nominative second-person)
filingning (genitive second-person singular)
fillaringning (genitive second-person)
filingga (dative second-person singular)
fillaringga (dative second-person)
filingni (accusative definite second-person singular)
fillaringni (accusative definite second-person)
filingda (locative second-person singular)
fillaringda (locative second-person)
filingdan (ablative second-person singular)
fillaringdan (ablative second-person)
filingdek (second-person singular)
fillaringdek (second-person)
fili (nominative singular)
fillari (nominative plural)
filining (genitive singular)
fillarining (genitive plural)
filiga (dative singular)
fillariga (dative plural)
filini (accusative definite singular)
fillarini (accusative definite plural)
filida (locative singular)
fillarida (locative plural)
filidan (ablative singular)
fillaridan (ablative plural)
filidek (singular)
fillaridek (plural)
filimiz (first-person nominative)
fillarimiz (first-person nominative plural)
filimizning (first-person genitive)
fillarimizning (first-person genitive plural)
filimizga (dative first-person)
fillarimizga (dative first-person plural)
filimizni (accusative definite first-person)
fillarimizni (accusative definite first-person plural)
filimizda (first-person locative)
fillarimizda (first-person locative plural)
filimizdan (ablative first-person)
fillarimizdan (ablative first-person plural)
filimizdek (first-person)
fillarimizdek (first-person plural)
filingiz (nominative second-person)
fillaringiz (nominative plural second-person)
filingizning (genitive second-person)
fillaringizning (genitive plural second-person)
filingizga (dative second-person)
fillaringizga (dative plural second-person)
filingizni (accusative definite second-person)
fillaringizni (accusative definite plural second-person)
filingizda (locative second-person)
fillaringizda (locative plural second-person)
filingizdan (ablative second-person)
fillaringizdan (ablative plural second-person)
filingizdek (second-person)
fillaringizdek (plural second-person)

Inherited from Chagatai فیل (fīl /fīl/), from Classical Persian فیل (fīl), from Arabic فِيلٌ m (fīlun), Middle Persian 𐭯𐭩𐭫 (pyl /pīl/), from Akkadian 𒄠𒋛 (/pīru/).


四

ja-pos

四(スー) • (sū)

小四喜

四喜和 (sūshīhō)

大四喜

四喜和 (sūshīhō)


pour

pours (plural)
pur (alternative)
paur (alternative Vallander)
pur (alternative)

Of Germanic origin, cognate with German Bauer, Dutch boer.


白

白 (canonical)
白 (canonical)
haku (romanization)

(mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of white dragon tiles, worth 1 翻 (han, “double”)


南

(mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of south wind tiles; depending on wind round and player's seat wind, it is worth either 1 or 2 翻 (han, “doubles”)


東

From Mandarin 東 /东 (dōng).
Compare Wu 東 /东 (ton), Hakka 東 /东 (tûng), Min Nan 東 /东 (tong).

(mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of east wind tiles; depending on wind round and player's seat wind, it is worth either 1 or 2 翻 (han, “doubles”)


北

ja-noun

北(ペー) • (pē)

(mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of north wind tiles; depending on wind round and player's seat wind, it is worth either 1 or 2 翻 (han, “doubles”)


中

(mahjong) short for 紅中 (honchun): a red dragon tile

(mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand combination”) with a meld of red dragon tiles, worth 1 翻 (han, “double”)


上

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²⁴²/

/t͡sʰuɔŋ²⁴²/

Ideogram (指事): a line above another (contrast 下 (xià)) — up. Originally written as 𠄞, but changed to this form to prevent confusion with 二 (èr).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tVŋ (“top”). Cognate with Tibetan སྟེང (steng), Tibetan ཡང་རྩེ (yang rtse, “summit; pinnacle”) (Bodman, 1980), Mizo zo (“to be high”), zah (“to respect; to revere”) (STEDT).
Shijing rimes indicate occasional level tone for pronunciation 2 (Schuessler, 2007).
Pronunciation 1 is the exopassive of pronunciation 2 with suffix *-s, literally meaning "what has been raised" (Schuessler, 2007). The rising tone in Middle Chinese words with voiced stop initials regularly evolves into departing tone in Mandarin. Pronunciation 3 results from 叶韻 (xiéyùn), i.e. its pronunciation has been artificially changed to preserve rhymes in classical poetry.

cog

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

(mahjong, Cantonese) chow; to call a discarded tile to produce a chow


仕

See 士 "servant, retainer, officer, scholar, gentleman"

(xiangqi) adviser; guard; minister: 🩡 (on the red side)


傌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *mraːs): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 馬 (OC *mraːʔ).

Han compound

(xiangqi) horse; knight: 🩣 (on the red side)


兌

In the oracle bone script, it is a ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 八 (“speech; breath”) + 口 (“mouth”) + 人 (“person”) – speech; original character of 說 (OC *hljod, “to speak”). It is also a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *l'oːds): phonetic 㕣 (OC *lon) + semantic 人 (“person”).
Alternatively, 八 may be interpreted as smile lines above the mouth (Gao Hongjin) or as meaning “to divide” (Lin Yiguang, i.e. the mouth is divided when smiling); in either case, the character would be the original character of 悅 (OC *lod, “pleased”).

Han compound

exchange sacrifice
w:the exchange (chess)

(xiangqi) to sacrifice one's piece to capture an opponent's piece; similar to an exchange sacrifice in chess


兵

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 斤 (“a short axe”) + 廾 (“2 hands”) – a pair of hands holding a weapon. Unrelated to 丘.

(xiangqi) pawn; private; soldier: 🩦 (on the red side)


到

遘
告
至
甲
屆
各
格
𢓜
佫
徦
假
臵

(Hokkien, mahjong, playing cards) to complete a winning hand


drag

drag (indefinite nominative singular)
drags (genitive indefinite singular)
draget (definite nominative singular)
dragets (definite genitive singular)
drag (indefinite nominative plural)
drags (genitive indefinite plural)
dragen (definite nominative plural)
dragens (definite genitive plural)

From Old Swedish dragh, from Old Norse drag, related to the verb draga (“to pull, draw”).


包

Sino-Xenic (包):
* → Vietnamese: bao (包)

→ English: bao, bau, bow, pao, pau

⇒ Khmer: នំប៉ាវ (num paaw)

⇒ Lao: ກະລາເປົ໋າ (ka lā pao)

→ Malay: pau

⇒ Thai: ซาลาเปา (saa-laa-bpao)

Pictogram (象形) – a fetus (巳 (sì)) in the womb (勹), or a swaddled baby. Shuowen gives both interpretations.


卒

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (卒):
* → Japanese: 卒(そつ) (sotsu)
* → Korean: 졸(卒) (jol)
* → Vietnamese: tốt (卒)

There were 5 forms of 卒 in Shang oracle bone script (Qiu, 1990; Xuan, 2012):
# : same as 衣 (“clothes”) (> Western Zhou bronze script );
# : a crisscross 衣 - a completed clothing;
# (卒): ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 衣 (“clothes”) with a mark - a completed clothing to be folded (> Warring States bronze script ; Chu slip and silk script );
# (𧙻): phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): 衣 (“clothes”) + 聿 (OC *b·lud) (hand (又) holding a brush);
# ,: 𧙻 having 又 omitted.
The brush shape in form (5) was often placed upside down. Later the inverted brush shape was mistaken as 又 and then moved to the top as in Chu slip and silk script (𰠄) to avoid obscuration with 袁 (衣 + 又) (Xuan, 2012).
From 遭 (OC *ʔsluː, “to meet”) + nominal suffix *-t (Schuessler, 2007).

卆
䘚
𠥾
𨔊/𨒳
𧙻
𰠄

(xiangqi) pawn; private; soldier: 🩭 (on the black side)


吃

Wutunhua: qe

→ Japanese: 吃(チー) (chī)

/t͡ɕʰi̯a̠²⁴/

/t͡ɕʰi̯a̠²⁴/

Phono-semantic compound 形聲 /形声 (xíngshēng): semantic 口 (kǒu) + phonetic 乞 (OC *kʰɯds, *kʰɯd).
Its original meaning is "to stutter", hence, the phonetic component could add part of the meaning since it has the phonetically borrowed meaning of "begging" (i.e., trying to talk but with difficulties).
According to folk etymologies, 乞 in this character indicates that, while stuttering, less air comes from the mouth (compare 气, which has more traits). However, 乞 is simply a variant of 气, it originally meant "air" and was later borrowed to indicate "begging", therefore it didn't mean "less air; to stutter" or similar words and expressions.

吃得苦中苦，方為人上人 / 吃得苦中苦，方为人上人

chī de kǔ zhōng kǔ, fāng wéi rén shàng rén


吃

From Mandarin 吃 (chī, literally “to eat”).

(mahjong) a call for an open 順子 (shuntsu, “sequence of three suited tiles”), compare English chow


后

Oracle bone inscriptions often wrote 后 as 毓, depicting a woman giving birth. Wang Guowei posits the meaning extended from childbirth to succession, then to empress. In the modern form, the birthing figure would be 𠂆 and the child figure 𠮛.
According to Kōjien and 学研漢和大字典, ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 人 (“person (variant form)”) + 口 (“hole”) — a depiction of a person's (人) anus, with the additional meaning of “behind”, “rear”, as well as coming to mean “emperor/empress”, who would live in a palace “behind” worldly troubles.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mV-qow (“head”). Cognate with Tibetan གོ (go, “head; headman”), མགོ (mgo, “head, top, beginning”).


和

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡoːl, *ɡoːls): phonetic 禾 (OC *ɡoːl) + semantic 口 (“mouth”) – harmony. The original version was 龢, with the radical of the flute 𠎤 (> 龠) in its either archaic or contracted version perhaps to indicate the abstract concept of harmony through harmony in music.
; “and; with”
; “Japanese”

Han compound

和牌


嗊

(xiangqi, Hokkien) general or marshal; the king piece (on the black side) or the chief piece (on the red side)


坎

1976, “打雀英雄傳”, 許冠傑 [Sam Hui], 黎彼得 [Peter Lai] (lyrics), performed by 許冠傑 [Sam Hui]:

half flush // formed a seven-circle pung // three white dragons, green dragons as eyes, and a kong of red dragon

wan⁶ jat¹ sik¹, pung³ cat¹ tung⁴, jat¹ kaan² baak⁶ baan² faat³ coi⁴ zou⁶ ngaan⁵ gong³ hung⁴ zung¹

混一色 碰七筒 一揀白板發財做眼槓紅中

混一色 碰七筒 一拣白板发财做眼杠红中

(Cantonese, mahjong) three tiles; set of pung or chow


將

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsaŋ, *ʔsaŋs): phonetic 爿 (OC *braːn, *zaŋ, “bed; small table”) + semantic ⺼ (“meat”) + semantic 寸 (“hand”) – to offer meat as tribute. Besides pronunciation, 爿 may partly indicate a small cutting board and/or sacrificial table on which the meat is placed. The sacrificial meat and the hand together form the shape 𪧷, which is similar but unrelated to 有.
The ⺼ component is on its side, hence resembles 夕 with an added dot; compare 祭, 然.
Shuowen erroneously considers the phonetic component of 將 to be 醬 (OC *ʔsaŋs, “sauce”) (abbreviated).
A conflation of two roots: “to take; to hold” and “will; be going to; near”.
; “to take; to hold” (Pronunciations 1, 2 and 3)
; “will; be going to; near” (Pronunciation 1)
; anteposed object introductory particle

Han compound

將死

将死


將

(xiangqi) general; king: 🩧 (on the black side)


將

tương (romanization)
tướng (romanization)

(xiangqi) a piece labeled with the character 將 in black and 帥 (soái) in red


山

山 (canonical)
山 (canonical)
yama (romanization)

山に躓かずして垤に躓く

yama ni tsumazukazu shite tetsu ni tsumazuku

From Old Japanese 山 (yama). First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.
Reconstructed as deriving in turn from Proto-Japonic *yama (“mountain; forest”).


帥

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 寻 (“two hands”) + 巾 (“scarf”) - to wear a scarf. Shuowen Jiezi interprets it as Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *sruds, *srud): phonetic 𠂤 (*C.tˤuj) + semantic 巾.
Also written as 率 (OC *sruds, *rud, *srud, “to lead”); both represent the s-causative of 律 (OC *rud, “to follow”). Cognate with Tibetan སྲིད (srid, “commander, leader”).

cog

(xiangqi) marshal: 🩠, the chief piece (on the red side)


役

From Middle Chinese 役 (MC ywek). The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

(card games, mahjong) hand, scoring combination


抽

desc

→ Mongolian: татах (tatax, “to inhale”) (semantic loan)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *l̥ʰɯw): semantic 扌 (“hand”) + phonetic 由 (OC *lɯw).
The slang sense is short for 抽風／抽风 (chōufēng).

Han compound

將軍抽車

将军抽车


栄

Invented for Japanese mahjong by Rin Mokō 林茂光 from such a call from some regions of China, after he found that the usual call in Mandarin 和 (hú) was problematic for Japanese speakers. He adopted the character 栄 as ateji, but later discovered that the original character for this sound was 攏 (lǒng). Nevertheless, the character 栄 remained and was accepted as standard.

(mahjong) short for 栄和 (ronhō): a win by picking up an opponent's discarded tile


桂

Abbreviation of 桂馬 (keima), the knight in 将棋 (shōgi, “Japanese chess”).

(shogi) the knight in 将棋 (shōgi, “Japanese chess”)


槍

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, stem or continuative form) of 遣る (yaru, “to do, execute → to kill”).

(shogi) common name for the 香車 (kyōsha, “lance”)


槓

English: kong

Japanese: 槓(カン) (kan)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 木 (“tree”) + phonetic 貢 (OC *koːŋs).


槓

(mahjong) short for 槓子 (kantsu): a set of four identical tiles

(mahjong) a call for such a set (compare English kong):

for a 明槓 (minkan, “open kan”), the player calling should have a 暗刻 (ankō, “closed triplet”) in hand and the current discarded tile is the fourth tile

for a 加槓 (kakan, “added kan”), the player should have an 明刻 (minkō, “open triplet”) beforehand and the fourth tile must be self-drawn

for an 暗槓 (ankan, “closed kan”), the player calling must simply have all four tiles in hand


歩

(shogi, colloquial) a foot soldier (piece that can move one space forward), erroneously called as the equivalent of the pawn in Western chess


殺

In the oracle bone script, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意) of a boar that had been impaled in the head.
In the seal script, the original compound was corrupted into 𣏂 (sometimes written as 杀). It was also in the seal script that the pictogram (象形): 人 (“person”) + 又 (“right hand”), which was later corrupted into 殳 (“spear”) or 攴, was added under the head of the boar to specify the killing was done by a person.
The modern-day character inherits this and can be thought of as a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *sreːds, *sreːd): phonetic 𣏂 + semantic 殳 (“spear”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/b-sat (“to kill”); compare Tibetan བསད (bsad), perfect of Tibetan གསོད (gsod, “to kill”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *C-sat (“to kill”), Japhug sat (“to kill”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007; Zhang, Jacques and Lai, 2019).

Han compound

杀
𣏂
煞
閷
𢁛
𢽅
𢿹
𢽆
𢼡
𢿔
𢽘
𣪩
𧤿
𧜁

(chess) to mate; short for 將殺／将杀 (jiāngshā) ("to checkmate")


河

河 (canonical)
河 (canonical)
hō (romanization)

From Chinese 河 (hé). The pronunciation is most similar to Cantonese /hɔː²¹/, although most Japanese mahjong terminology is taken from early 20th Century Mandarin.

(mahjong) river: a player's discard pile


炮

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (砲 /炮):
* → Japanese: 砲(ほう) (hō)
* → Korean: 포(砲) (po)
* → Vietnamese: pháo (砲)

→ Tuvan: боо (boo)

Mongolic:

→ Buryat: буу (buu)

→ Daur: pau

→ Dongxiang: pao

→ Kalmyk: бу (bu)

→ Mongolian: ᠪᠤᠤ (buu) / буу (buu)

Tungusic:

→ Manchu: ᡦᠣᠣ (poo)

→ Nanai: пао (pao)

→ Orok: пау (pau)

→ Ulch: пау

→ Nivkh: пʼау (pʼau)

Characters in the same phonetic series (勹) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *pʰruːs, *bruː): semantic 火 + phonetic 包 (OC *pruː).


file

From French file, from filer (“to spin out, arrange one behind another”), from Latin fīlāre, from filum (“thread”).

(chess) One of the eight vertical lines of squares on a chessboard (i.e., those identified by a letter).


牌

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (牌):
* → Japanese: 牌(はい) (hai)
* → Korean: 패(牌) (pae)
* → Vietnamese: bài (牌)

desc

→ Burmese: ဖဲ (hpai:, “playing cards; game of cards”)

→ Khmer: បៀ (biə, “playing cards”)

→ Lao: ໄພ້ (phai, “playing cards”)

→ Lü: ᦘᦻᧉ (phaay², “playing cards”)

→ Shan: ၽၢႆႉ (phâ̰ai, “domino, playing cards”)

→ Thai: ไพ่ (pâi, “playing cards”)

→ White Hmong: phaib (“playing cards”)

→ Zhuang: bej (“playing cards”)

/pʰaːi̯²¹⁻³⁵/

/pʰaːi̯²¹⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *breː, *breː): semantic 片 + phonetic 卑 (OC *pe).

Han compound

打牌

洗牌

我就剩一張牌了！

我就剩一张牌了！

(card games, mahjong, dominoes) playing cards; cards; dominoes; mahjong; etc. (Classifier: 張／张 m c; 飛／飞 c)


王

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (王):
* → Japanese: 王(おう) (ō)
* → Okinawan: 王(をー) (wō)
* → Korean: 왕(王) (wang)
* → Vietnamese: vương (王)

desc

→ Classical Mongolian: ᠸᠠᠩ (wang) (via Mandarin)

Mongolian:

Mongolian script: ᠸᠠᠩ (wang)

Cyrillic script: ван (van)

→ Buryat: ван (van)

→ English: Wang (via Mandarin), Wong (via Cantonese), Ong (via Hokkien), Heng (via Teochew)

→ Iu Mien: hungh

→ Manchu: ᠸᠠᠩ (wang) (via Mandarin)

→ Middle Mongol: (via Early Mandarin)

Uigurjin script: ᠣᠩ (ʾwnk /oŋ/)

→ Old Uyghur: 𐽰𐽳𐽺𐽷 (oŋ) (via Early Mandarin), 𐽳𐽰𐽺𐽷 (wʾnk /waŋ/) (via Early Mandarin)

→ Old Uyghur: 𐽰𐽳𐽶𐽺𐽷 (öŋ)

→ Tagalog: Ong (via Hokkien), Wong (via Cantonese), Wang (via Mandarin)

→ Thai: อ๋อง (ɔ̌ng) (via Hokkien)

→ Zhuang: vuengz

Chinese bronze inscriptions
Konyak languages
Zhou dynasty

Characters in the same phonetic series (王) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) of a ritual axe made perhaps of jade, symbols of the king's power. A ceremonial axe was kept near the throne, and was used for performing rituals in ancient China.
The traditional interpretation (most likely a folk etymology given the original appearance of the character) is that the character metaphorically indicates the king or emperor according to the ancient Chinese thought: three horizontal strokes represent Heaven, Man and Earth, and the vertical stroke is the king or emperor, the one who connects them together. However, compare 天 (tiān) (a man with a horizontal stroke above his head to indicate the sky).
Unrelated to 玉 (yù, “a string with three pieces of jade”) and 主 (“master”); partly related to 士 (a war axe and, perhaps, sometimes a variant of 王), to 戉 (an axe drawn vertically), to the inner component of 匡 (kuāng, “square‑shaped bamboo basket”), and to the right component of 往 (< 𢓸).
Uncertain. There are many proposed etymologies:
* Sagart and Baxter (2009) compare it to Tibetan གོང་མ (gong ma, “superior one”).
* Schuessler (2007) compares it to Tibetan དབང (dbang, “strength, power”) and Burmese အန် (an, “strength, power”), which derive from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-baŋ (“strength, power”). However, reconstructing the Old Chinese as *waŋ, he notes the mismatch between Old Chinese *w- vs. Tibetan *b- (unless *dw- can become db-; for possible *b- ~ * w- variation, see 花). He also compares it to Proto-Northern Naga *waŋ (“chief”).
* Schuessler (2007) alternatively proposes a connection to Old Khmer vāṅ, vaṅ (modern Khmer វាំង (veăng), “royal palace”), which he considers to be cognate with Khmer ហ្លួង (hluŏng, “king”). This is perhaps supported by a bronze inscription where 王 refers to a place, not the Zhou king (Shaughnessy, 1991). The semantic shift from "palace" to "king" parallels Egyptian pr-ꜥꜣ (“pharaoh”, literally “palace”), from pr (“house”) + ꜥꜣ (“great, big”). The connection to the Old Khmer word would thus relate it to Proto-Mon-Khmer *waŋ ~ *waaŋ (“enclosure; to go round”), which is part of a larger Austroasiatic word family, including 營 (OC *ɢʷeŋ) and 環 (OC *ɡʷraːn). Bodman (1980) connects 王 with 皇 (OC *ɡʷaːŋ, “sovereign”), which Schuessler (2007) connects to this word family.
* Speculations exist about its connection to 尪 (OC *qʷaːŋ, “lame, crippled”) and 狂 (OC *ɡʷaŋ, “mad”), based on theories about the connection between ancient Chinese kingship and shamanism (Keightley, 1995).


bullet

en-noun

bullet (countable and uncountable, plural bullets)

From Middle English bullet (“an official tag or badge of registration or identification”), from Old French bullete, diminutive of boule (“ball”). Later influenced by Middle French boulette and French boulet.

inh

Nakamura is a different animal at 15-minute rapid and five-minute blitz and even more so at one-minute bullet, and in this match he adopted a psychological approach which paid off brilliantly.

2020 August 21, Leonard Barden, “Chess: Carlsen fights back from brink to overcome Nakamura in 38-game epic”, in The Guardian:

Carlsen also has been engaging in online marathons of "bullet chess," exactly the kind of attention-disrupting, energy-draining stunt contenders are supposed to avoid. In a bullet game, each player has only one minute for all the moves. The pace is so rapid the games are hard to watch, much less play.

2021 November 24, Tyler Cowen, “Chess Is an Esport Now. Get Used to It.”, in The Washington Post:

Even today, when they're home, the siblings indulge in a friendly game or two. "We love playing bullet games. It's a format where we make really quick moves," he says, pausing to add, "Think of it like a super over in cricket."

2022 July 27, Srinivasa Ramanujam, “'Feels like a festival': Praggnanandhaa on Chess Olympiad and meeting Rajinikanth”, in The Hindu:

(chess, uncountable) Ellipsis of bullet chess.


番

→ Japanese: 飜(ハン) (han)

→ Vietnamese: phen

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *paːl, *paːls, *pʰaːn, *pʰan, *ban): phonetic 釆 (biàn) + semantic 田 – "animal's footprint in the field"; Xu Shen interprets both components as the pictogram of an animal footprint. Original form of 蹯 (fán).
According to Tadashi Takada (高田忠周), it's the pictogram of some seeds on the palm of an open hand, which conveys the concept of "spreading". Original form of 播.
Neither Xu Shen nor Tadashi Takada interprets the bottom component as the pictogram of a field.
; “to do in turns; turn; time”
; “anime series”

生番

non-Sinicized ethnic minority, barbarian


相

/ɬiaŋ³³⁻³³⁵/

/ɬiaŋ³³⁻³³⁵/

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 木 (“tree”) + 目 (“eye”) – looking at, or watching the tree.
An allofam is 胥 (OC *sŋa, *sŋaʔ, “each other; mutually; all; to observe; to assist”) (Gong, 1995; Schuessler, 2007). Note also similarities to Burmese သင့် (sang., “to befall, be suitable”).
Derivative: 想 (OC *slaŋʔ, “to think”) (“appearance > to visualise > to think”).


眼

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ŋrɯːnʔ): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 艮 (OC *kɯːns).
Derived from Etymology 2 (Sagart, 1999). Displaced common Sino-Tibetan 目 (OC *muɡ, “eye”) in many dialects.

Han compound

(Cantonese, mahjong) two identical tiles which are an essential part of a legal winning hand


碰

→ English: pung, pong

→ Japanese: 碰(ポン) (pon)

→ Tagalog: pong

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 石 (“rock”) + phonetic 並.
Appears in Zihui [Ming dynasty] as 掽, but only attested in literary works since Qing dynasty. Probably a recent colloquial form of 逢 (MC bjowng) (Wang, 1982; Schuessler, 2007).


碰

Borrowed from Mandarin 碰 (pèng).
Compare Cantonese 碰 (pung³), Hokkien 碰 (phòng).

(mahjong) a call for a 明刻 (minkō, “open triplet”) from a discarded tile, compare English pung

双碰

two-side wait pattern, winning tile may form a triplet with one or the other pair


竜

ja-noun

竜(りゅう) • (ryū)

(shogi, colloquial) short for 竜王 (ryūō): dragon king; a promoted 角行 (kakugyō, “bishop”) that has the moves of both kakugyō and 王将 (ōshō)/玉将 (gyokushō)


索

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 糸 (“thread”) + 𣎳 (“strip fibres off a hemp stalk”). Threads (rope) being removed from a fabric.
糸 visually represents the middle interior of the small seal script form, whereas 𣎳 is the three-pointed top part and the left and right lines.
From Austroasiatic; compare Proto-Vietic *ɟaːk (“rope”) (> Vietnamese chạc), Mon ဇုက် (“string; cord; rope; lashing; creeper”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)