fers
/ˈfɜɹz/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.06 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The medieval chess piece that developed into the modern queen.
noun
A fairy chess piece that moves one square diagonally.
Example Sentences
- "With their introduction the fers and the alfil disappeared from European chess."
- "In the Chronique of Philip Mouskat (a.d. 1243), lines 23617–20, is a reference to a king of Fierges, indicating that a fers could be promoted to a king at this early period."
- "This fers mates him in straight lines; this fers mates him at an angle."
- "In Monochromatic chess moves are only allowed between cells of the same colour. Thus the kings are reduced to ferses, the rooks to dabbabariders, and the knights to dummies. […] Another type of rider is the Mao which is the knight in Chinese chess. It makes its move in two steps, a noncapturing wazir move followed by a fers move, so the cell moved through must be vacant. The Moa (W.Speckman) is a knight that moves as fers followed by wazir."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle English fers, from Old French fierce, from Medieval Latin ferzia, from Classical Persian فَرْزِین (farzīn).
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɜɹz/
- British English: /ˈfɜːz/
Usage
- American usage