Where does “șah” come from?

șah (Romanian) comes from German schāch, from Middle High German schāch, from Latin scacci, from Latin scaccus, from Arabic شَاه, from Persian شاه, from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠, from Old Persian 𐏋 — to sire, beget.

șah (Romanian): chess; chess set; check

Definitions

  1. chess; chess set; check

Ancestry of “șah”, step by step

șah traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German schāch

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanschāchchess game
2Middle High Germanschāch
3Latinscaccichess
4LatinscaccusAPI; check
5Arabicشَاهking in chess; king; king or check at chess, shah
6Persianشاهking; shah; king; Something that is the biggest...
7Middle Persian𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠king
8Old Persian𐏋king
9Proto-Iranianxšáyati
10Proto-Indo-Iraniankšáyatihe rules, he has power over
11Proto-Indo-Europeanteḱ-to sire, beget

via Ottoman Turkish شاه

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ottoman Turkishشاهruler, shah

Words derived from “șah

Every word from Proto-Indo-European teḱ-Every word from Proto-Indo-Iranian kšáyatiEvery word from Proto-Iranian xšáyati