échec French · revision 16078

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=fa شاه}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.ʃɛk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''échec''' ''m'' (plural échecs)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|eschac]] (plural ''eschas'', about 1165), [[m|fro|eschec]], ''échec'' from 1611.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The final ⟨c⟩ of the plural ''échecs'' (the game) was long silent.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration of Old French [[m|fro|eschac]] (compare [[la-med|scacus|t=chessman]], 11th century),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|19, 166a) first the cry with which a player warned that his opponent's king was threatened; it comes through [[ar|شَاه|tr=šāh]] from [[fa|شاه|tr=šāh|t=king]], as in “šāh māt” “the king is dead” (see [[mat]]), probably by way of Spain.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) The final ⟨c⟩ may be due to a crossing with Old French [[m|fro|eschec|t=booty]] (1080), from [[frk|*skāk]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ P. Guiraud doubted the route from Persia to the West and took the word from that Frankish “*skāk” “booty, capture”, the aim of the game being to capture the king.^(DHLF 1992) Compare [[it|scacco]] and [[es|jaque]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) [[en|chess]] and [[en|check]] go back to Old French “eschec”.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''As tables juent… e as eschecs'', they play at tables and at chess;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Chrétien de Troyes (1174–1180) uses ''eschés'' for the chessmen.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the singular ''eschec'' was the position of a king or queen under threat (''Floire et Blancheflor'', about 1170: ''Et dist eskec''), and ''eschec et mat'' was already figurative in the 13th century (''Roman de la Rose'').^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) Classical French used ''donner échec et mat à qqn'' (1606) for “to defeat”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From about 1223 (Gautier de Coinci) it meant an obstacle, embarrassment, whence ''faire échec à'', ''tenir en échec'' and the usual modern sense, “failure, setback”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In modern French ''échec'' serves as the noun of ''échouer'', though the two are unrelated, and is not felt to be the same word as the game.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Psychology has ''névrose d'échec'', and schools ''échec scolaire''.^(TLFi)^(Larousse) The derivative ''échiquier'' (about 1160) also named the royal treasury, whence English ''Exchequer''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Eschecs'' “chess” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – ''Eschaquier''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1165 – ''Eschas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – ''Eschec'' “check”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1174–1180 – The chessmen, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1223 – “Obstacle, setback”, in Gautier de Coinci.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – The spelling ''échec''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|failure]], setback: ''subir un échec'', ''échec scolaire''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Faire échec à'', ''tenir en échec'': to thwart, hold in check.^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(chess)'' [[m|en|check|alt=Check]]: ''échec au roi'', ''échec et mat'': checkmate.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(plural)'' [[m|en|chess|alt=Chess]]; the chessmen: ''jouer aux échecs''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # Check!^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[échiquier]]

+ * [[échiquier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mat]]

+ * [[en|chess]]

+ * [[en|check]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}