Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
checkmate. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
checkmate, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
checkmate in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
checkmate you have here. The definition of the word
checkmate will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
checkmate, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English chekmat, from Old French eschec mat, from Arabic شَاه مَاتَ (šāh māta), from Classical Persian شاه مات (šāh māt, “the king amazed”).
Pronunciation
Interjection
checkmate
- (chess) Word called out by the victor when making a move that wins the game.
- (by extension) Said when one has placed a person in a losing situation with no escape.
Alternative forms
Synonyms
Translations
said when making the conclusive move in chess
- Albanian: shah mat
- Arabic: شَاهْ مَات m (šāh māt), مَات (ar) m (māt), كِش مَلِك m (kiš malik)
- Egyptian Arabic: كش ملك (kešš malek)
- Armenian: շախ և մատ (šax ew mat), մատ (hy) (mat)
- Belarusian: мат (mat), шах і мат (šax i mat)
- Bengali: কিস্তিমাত (bn) (kistimat)
- Bulgarian: мат (mat)
- Catalan: escac i mat (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 將死／将死 (zh) (jiāngsǐ), 將軍／将军 (zh) (jiāngjūn)
- Czech: mat (cs), šach mat m
- Danish: skakmat c
- Dutch: schaakmat (nl) n, mat (nl) n
- Estonian: šahh ja matt
- Faroese: skák og mát
- Finnish: shakki ja matti
- French: échec et mat (fr)
- Galician: xaque mate (gl), mate (gl) m
- Georgian: შამათი (ka) (šamati)
- German: schachmatt (de), schach und matt
- Greek: ματ (el) (mat)
- Hebrew: מָט (he) (mat)
- Hindi: मात (hi) (māt), शहमात (śahmāt)
- Hungarian: sakk-matt (hu)
- Indonesian: syahmat, skakmat, sekakmat (id)
- Italian: scacco matto (it)
- Japanese: チェックメイト (ja) (chekkumeito), 詰み (ja) (つみ, tsumi)
- Kalmyk: мад (mad)
- Khmer: ស្លាប់ក្រឡា (slap krɑlaa)
- Korean: 외통수 (oetongsu), 체크메이트 (chekeumeiteu)
- Latvian: šahs un mats
- Macedonian: шах-мат (šah-mat), мат (mat)
- Malay: syahmat (ms)
- Maori: whakamiere
- Middle English: chekmat
- Mongolian: мад (mn) (mad)
- Norwegian: sjakkmatt
- Persian: کیش و مات (kiš o mât), شاه مات (fa) (šâh mât), شهمات (fa) (šahmât), مات (fa) (mât)
- Polish: mat (pl) m, szach mat, szach i mat
- Portuguese: xeque-mate (pt) m, xaque-mate m
- Romanian: șah mat, mat (ro)
- Russian: мат (ru) m (mat), шах и мат (šax i mat)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: шах-мат, мат
- Roman: šah-mat (sh), mat (sh)
- Slovak: šachmat, mat
- Slovene: šah mat, mat (sl)
- Spanish: jaque mate, mate (es) m
- Swedish: schackmatt (sv)
- Tagalog: mate (tl)
- Tajik: шоҳ мот (šoh mot)
- Thai: รุกฆาต (rúk-kâat), รุกฆาตแล้ว (rúk-kâat-lɛ́ɛo)
- Turkish: şah mat (tr)
- Ukrainian: мат m (mat), шах і мат (šax i mat)
- Urdu: شاہ اور مات (śāh aur māt), شاہ مات (śāh māt)
- Vietnamese: chiếu tướng
- Welsh: siachmat m
- Yiddish: מאַט (mat)
|
Noun
checkmate (countable and uncountable, plural checkmates)
- The conclusive victory in a game of chess that occurs when an opponent's king is threatened with unavoidable capture.
- (figuratively, by extension) Any losing situation with no escape; utter defeat.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
conclusive victory in a game of chess
- Arabic: شَاه مَات (šāh māt)
- Armenian: շախմատ (hy) (šaxmat)
- Belarusian: мат m (mat)
- Bulgarian: мат m (mat)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 將死／将死 (zh) (jiāngsǐ), 將軍／将军 (zh) (jiāngjūn)
- Czech: mat (cs) m
- Danish: skakmat, mat (da)
- Dutch: schaakmat (nl), mat (nl)
- Esperanto: ŝakmato (eo)
- Estonian: matt
- Faroese: mát n
- Finnish: matti (fi)
- French: échec et mat (fr) m
- Galician: xaque mate (gl) m
- Georgian: შამათი (ka) (šamati)
- German: Schachmatt (de) n
- Greek: ματ (el) n (mat)
- Hebrew: מט (he) (mat)
- Hungarian: sakk-matt (hu), matt (hu)
- Italian: scacco matto (it) m
- Japanese: 詰み (ja) (つみ, tsumi), チェックメイト (ja) (chekkumeito)
- Korean: 체크메이트 (chekeumeiteu), 외통수 (oetongsu)
- Maori: whakamiere
- Mongolian: мад (mn) (mad)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: sjakkmatt
- Nynorsk: sjakkmatt
- Persian: کیش و مات (kiš o mât), شهمات (fa) (šahmât), مات (fa) (mât)
- Polish: mat (pl) m
- Portuguese: xeque-mate (pt) m, xaque-mate m
- Romanian: șah mat n, mat (ro) n
- Russian: шах и мат m (šax i mat), мат (ru) m (mat)
- Scottish Gaelic: clos m
- Slovak: mat m
- Slovene: šah mat m, mat (sl) m
- Spanish: jaque mate m, mate (es) m
- Swedish: matt (sv) c, schack matt (sv) c
- Thai: รุกฆาต (rúk-kâat)
- Ukrainian: мат m (mat)
- Vietnamese: chiếu hết, chiếu bí
- Zazaki: sah mat c du
|
losing situation with no escape
Translations to be checked
Verb
checkmate (third-person singular simple present checkmates, present participle checkmating, simple past and past participle checkmated)
- (transitive, chess) To put the king of an opponent into checkmate.
That jerk checkmated me in four moves!
- (transitive, by extension) To place in a losing situation that has no escape.
Translations
to put an opponent into checkmate
- Bulgarian: мати́рам (bg) (matíram)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 把...將死／把...将死 (bǎ...jiāngsǐ)
- Czech: matovat, dát mat
- Esperanto: ŝakmatigi
- Faroese: máta
- Finnish: matittaa (fi), tehdä matti
- French: faire échec et mat
- Georgian: დაშამათება (dašamateba) (verbal noun), აშამათებს (ašamatebs) (infinitive)
- Hungarian: mattot ad, megmattol (hu)
- Italian: dare scacco matto
- Japanese: チェックメート (chekkumēto)
- Maori: whakamiere
- Mongolian: мад хийх (mad xiix)
- Persian: شهمات کردن (šahmât kardan), مات کردن (fa) (mât kardan)
- Polish: zamatować pf, dać mata pf
- Russian: ста́вить мат impf (stávitʹ mat), поста́вить мат pf (postávitʹ mat)
- Scottish Gaelic: cuir clos air
- Slovak: dať šach mat
- Slovene: matirati
- Swedish: schackmatta (sv), sätta matt, göra matt, sätta schackmatt, göra schackmatt
- Thai: รุกฆาต (rúk-kâat)
- Vietnamese: chiếu bí
|
to lead to a situation of no escape
Translations to be checked
