kriegspiel

pronunciation

How to pronounce kriegspiel in British English: UK ['kri:gspi:l]word uk audio image

How to pronounce kriegspiel in American English: US ['krigˌspil] word us audio image

Word Origin

kriegspiel (n.)
war games played with pieces on maps, 1811 as a German word in English, from German Kriegsspiel, literally "war game," from Krieg "war," from Middle High German kriec, "combat," mostly "exertion, effort; opposition, enmity, resistance," from Old High German chreg "stubbornness, defiance, obstinacy," perhaps from PIE *gwere- (2) "heavy" (see grave (adj.)) or cognate with Greek hybris "violence" (see hubris; also see war (n.)). For second element, see spiel (n.). Introduced 1870s as officer training in British army.