Meaning

noun weedy annual native to Europe but widely distributed as a weed especially in wheat

noun a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king

originFrom Middle English ches, chesse, from Old French eschés, plural of eschec, from Medieval Latin scaccus, from Arabic شَاه (šāh, “king [in chess]”), from Classical Persian شاه (šāh, “shah, king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/). Compare German Schach and Italian scacchi. Compare French échecs (“chess”) and its descendants: Catalan escacs and Dutch…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0