Gambit

How to spell gambit

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce gambit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does gambit mean?

1. nounA calculated action or remark, especially an opening one, made to gain an advantage later.
2. nounA chess opening in which a player sacrifices a pawn or piece to gain a positional or tactical advantage.

Gambit in a sentence

• Offering a free trial was a clever gambit to win new subscribers.

• He opened the match with the queen's gambit, sacrificing a pawn for control of the centre.

• Her opening gambit in the negotiation was to name a low figure first.

• The coach taught the beginners a simple gambit to develop their pieces quickly.

Where does gambit come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word traces back to the Italian gambetto, which literally meant the act of tripping someone up by the leg, from gamba meaning 'leg'. Italian chess writers borrowed the image for an opening in which a player deliberately sacrifices a pawn or piece to trip up an opponent and gain a positional advantage. The term passed into Spanish as gambito and then into French as gambit, and English adopted the French form in the seventeenth century. From the chessboard it spread into general use for any calculated opening move designed to secure a later benefit. The buried 'leg' sense is a handy memory hook: the single 'b' and the unstressed 'it' ending both come straight from that Italian diminutive, so there is no doubling and no 'gambet' spelling.

How the word is built

• gamb- (from Italian gamba: leg)
• -etto/-it (diminutive suffix: a little trip of the leg)