gambit

Forms

gambit m (plural gambits)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian gambetto (“a tripping up”), perhaps through Spanish gambito, since the change of suffix is easier to explain in Spanish than in French.^[2][3][4] The Italian word, properly a trip with the leg in wrestling, is a derivative of gamba (“leg”), from Late Latin gamba, the source of French jambe and gambade.^[2][3][5][6] In Italian it was probably a chess term by 1622–1634, when the Calabrian player Greco, whose treatise Trévoux cites in translation, was the best known player of his day.^[2]

According to Etymonline, Ruy Lopez applied the word to chess openings in Spanish in 1561, and the Spanish form gave the French word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1743 in the Dictionnaire de Trévoux, which describes an opening in which the king's or queen's pawn is pushed two squares and then the pawn of the bishop on the same side is advanced as well.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word has remained a chess term.^[3] The older dictionaries define it as a fixed sequence of pawn moves;^[6] Littré quotes the Académie's and Trévoux's slightly different definitions.^[6] Modern dictionaries define it as the deliberate sacrifice of a pawn or piece to free one's game or gain an attacking position, as in the gambit de la Dame “queen's gambit”.^[2][8][9]

English had gambett in the 1650s, and its spelling gambit was influenced by the French word; the wider English sense “opening move meant to gain an advantage” dates from 1855.^[7]

Timeline

• 1561 – Ruy Lopez uses the word for chess openings in Spanish.^[7]
• 1622–1634 – Italian gambetto is probably already a chess term.^[2]
• 1650s – English gambett is recorded.^[7]
• 1743 – First French record, in Trévoux.^[2][3]
• 1952 – Gambit de la Dame appears in Le Figaro.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chess) A gambit: an opening in which a pion or piece is sacrificed to free the game or gain an advantage in attack or position: jouer gambit.^{[8][10][9][2]}

Related words

• jambe
• gambade
• Italian gambetto
• English gambit

Usage notes

The Petit Robert and the GLLF give a pronunciation with silent t, [gɑ̃bi], as Littré already did (gan-bi).^[8][11][6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 118b
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse