Check

How to spell check

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce check

What does check mean?

1. verbTo examine something in order to confirm that it is correct, safe, or in order.
2. nounAn act of examining or testing something to make sure it is correct or safe.
3. nounA pattern of crossing lines forming small squares, as on certain fabrics.
4. nounIn chess, the position in which a king is under direct attack.
5. nounA written order instructing a bank to pay a sum of money from an account.
6. nounThe bill for a meal in a restaurant.

Check in a sentence

• verb

  Please check the figures before you submit the report.

• noun

  The airport security check took longer than usual.

• noun

  He wore a shirt with a bold red and white check.

• noun

  She moved her bishop and put the king in check.

• noun

  She wrote a check to cover the month's rent.

• noun

  After dinner they asked the waiter for the check.

Where does check come from?

Language of origin: French

This word has a surprisingly royal origin: it traces back through Old French eschec to the medieval Latin scaccus, all derived ultimately from the Persian word shah, meaning 'king'. In the game of chess, a player warned the opponent that the king was under direct attack by calling 'check', and that single sense, the idea of stopping or restraining a piece, gradually broadened. From the notion of halting or controlling something came the meaning 'to hold back' and then 'to test or verify', since to check an account was originally to stop and scrutinise it. The same root also gave us 'chess', 'chequer', and 'checkmate' (from shah mat, roughly 'the king is dead'). English adopted the word in the 1300s, and over the centuries it sprouted the many practical senses, examination, control, marking off, and the American payment slip, that we use today.

How the word is built

• check (single root, from Old French eschec via Persian/Arabic shah 'king')

British and American spelling

Check is the American spelling. British English spells it cheque.

Words that sound like check

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• czech: Relating to the Czech Republic, its people, or their language.