433: checkmate and check Feb 14, 2016

'Checkmate' comes from Old French "eschec mat", via Arabic šāh māta, originally deriving from the Persian, 'šāh manad' which means, ‘the king is helpless’. The word 'check' or 'chess' itself is from the Middle English which originally was used only to denote the game of chess. The word gave rise to many definitions, such as 'carefully look something over', like one would in the game, or 'check' like a money order, denoting the system of filling out a grid, or the sense ‘stop, restrain, or control’ arose from the use in chess, and led to ‘examine the accuracy of, verify’. That list is by no means exhaustive. Even the coloring of a chessboard is called, 'checkering'.