The game of chess, played by two players, each trying to capture the other’s king with a sixteen-piece army of horses, foot soldiers, chariots, and elephants, surfaced in India in around 500 B.C.
The game was adopted first by the Persians and then by the Arabs, who introduced it to Europe during their conquest of Spain.
The Persian word for king is shah.
Checkmate is from the Arabic “Shah mat”, which literally means “the king is dead.”
That’s how we use the word checkmate to end a game of chess.
Related Posts
-
Where do the words check, checkmate, chess, checkers come from and What do they mean?
Chess is an exceedingly old game. No one knows how old, but it appears to have been played in Hindustan in remote times, and was probably taken from there to Persia where the…
-
What Does the Term “A1 Condition” Mean and Where Did the Term Come From?
In their early days, Lloyd's of London used an "A list" to classify sailing ships for insurance purposes. Only vessels meeting strict specifications would go to the top of that list, where they…
-
What Does the Term “Alma Mater” Mean and Where Did the Term Come From?
It all starts in kindergarten, a German concept meaning "children's garden," where the atmosphere for learning should be as pleasant for a child as being in a garden. School follows the same philosophy…
-
What Does the Term “Straw Boss” Mean and Where Did the Term For Work Supervisor Come From?
A straw boss is usually a supervisor or foreman of menial work, and the label comes from the farm. The "big boss" was in charge of the entire threshing crew, whose main task…
-
Where Did the Term “Noon Hour” Come From and What Did the Term For Midday Mean Originally?
The "noon hour" has shifted several times throughout history, and at one time, when Christians prayed twice a day, it meant both midday and midnight. In the original Old English the noon hour…
-
Where does the word “sundowner” come from and What does the term sundowner mean?
The word "sundown" itself is presumed to be a contraction of "sun-godown" or perhaps the archaic "sun-gate-down," and a sundowner is either a person who times a certain action relative to sundown, or…
