chess Copy link • chess: *scacci, orum: to play at c., scaccos (scaccis) ludere, Matthew of Westm.: but the word is of course barbarous, being derived from the Persian word for king, SHAH: and except where absolute precision is required, the general term latrunculi (prop. little soldiers or "men") may be preferable: a c.-board, scaccārium: M.L. (or simply tabulae): a collection of works on c., bibliotheca scaccaria: M.L.