checkmate
pronunciation
How to pronounce checkmate in British English:
UK [ˌtʃekˈmeɪt]
How to pronounce checkmate in American English:
US [ˈtʃɛkˌmet]
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- Noun:
- complete victory
- a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king
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- Verb:
- place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game
Word Origin
- checkmate (n.)
- mid-14c., from Old French eschec mat (Modern French échec et mat), which (with Spanish jaque y mate, Italian scacco-matto) is from Arabic shah mat "the king died" (see check (n.1)), which according to Barnhart is a misinterpretation of Persian mat "be astonished" as mata "to die," mat "he is dead." Hence Persian shah mat, if it is the ultimate source of the word, would be literally "the king is left helpless, the king is stumped."
- checkmate (v.)
- late 14c.; see checkmate (n.). Related: Checkmated; checkmating.
Example
- 1. You will be checkmate in the next move .
- 2. Win by a knockout or checkmate .
- 3. Whichever way you play , it will be checkmate in three moves .
- 4. A move in chess that directly attacks an opponent 's king but does not constitute a checkmate .
- 5. The principal chess piece , which can move one square in any direction and must be protected against checkmate .