Checkmate derives from the Persian phrase Shah Met
The word “checkmate” derives from the Persian phrase “Shah Met” which means “the King is Dead.” The term checkmate is, according to the Barnhart Etymological Dictionary, an alteration of the Farsi phrase “shāh māt” (شاه مات) which means, literally, “the King is helpless”.[7] Others maintain that it means “the King is dead”, as chess reached […]