English word mate comes from Arabic شَاهُ مَاتَ, Persian شاه, Latin madere, and later Persian شاه مات (Checkmate.)
Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
---|---|---|
شَاهُ مَاتَ | Arabic (ara) | |
شاه | Persian (fas) | (chess) king. (in compounds) Something that is the biggest or the best of its kind.. King; shah. |
madere | Latin (lat) | |
mattus | Latin (lat) | |
شاه مات | Persian (fas) | Checkmate. |
mat | Old French (842-ca. 1400) (fro) | Checkmated; in checkmate. |
mater | Middle French (ca. 1400-1600) (frm) | |
maten | Middle English (1100-1500) (enm) | |
mate | English (en) | (chess) Short for checkmate. (intransitive) To win a game of chess by putting the opponent in checkmate. To confuse; to confound. |