Noun: jaque
Gender: m
Hyphenation: ja‧que
| Singular m | jaque |
| Plural m | jaques |
Sample Sentences
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No oí bien cuando me dijo « ¡Jaque! » (I didn't hear well when she said "Check!")
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Vamos, no me pongas en jaque con esa pregunta repentina. (C'mon, don't put me in jeopardy with that sudden question.)
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Esta nueva epidemia está poniendo en jaque a aquellos que probablemente fueron vacunados en los 90. (This new epidemic is putting those who were probably vaccinated in the 90s at risk.) [2026 February 1, Daniela Guazo, “Un contagio por hora: la epidemia de sarampión que México no pudo frenar [One infection per hour: the measles epidemic that Mexico couldn't stop]”, in El Universal (Mexico), archived from the original on 02 Feb 2026:]
Nouns inflected like jaque
whopper,
egocentrismo,
cervantismo,
nipofilo,
botellazo,
radionúclido,
palenque,
esferoide,
hierodiácono,
miligramo,
entrenamiento,
saxófono,
oligopéptido,
espongocele,
contratiempo,
entrechocamiento,
decímetro,
carrotanque,
mililitro,
mesangio, etc. (List truncated at 20 nouns)
Etymology
1. Inherited from Old Spanish xaque, from Arabic شاه (šāh, “shah; king chess piece”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /šāh/, “king”). Doublet of cheque and escaque (“chess tile”), the latter formerly meaning "(any) chess piece" as well.
2. To explain the unusual rendering of Arabic -h as /k/ (-que), Coromines and Pascual suggest influence from escaque instead. They also mention an alternative idea they find less likely where the sound [h] was exaggerated as [k], cf. Medieval Latin nichil [ˈnikil]. Yet another explanation (not in Coromines and Pascual) for the /k/ is that it is from Arabic شاهك šāh-ak ("your king"), especially as it is used to announce an upcoming attack onto the enemy's king. First attested in 1283 as dar xaque ("to threaten the enemy's king"). See: Old Spanish Nouns '
xaque', Old Spanish Nouns '
xaque'.
Verbs referencing "jaque"
English Nouns
jacklight.
Translations