## Etymology
From the chess term, compounding obsolete 'stale' (a stalemate position, from Anglo-Norman 'estale', a fixed position) with 'mate' (checkmate, from Persian via Arabic 'shah mat', the king is dead).

## AI Etymology
Stalemate is from the chess term, compounding obsolete 'stale' (a stalemate position, from Anglo-Norman 'estale', a fixed position) with 'mate' (checkmate, from Persian via Arabic 'shah mat', the king is dead). Important recorded forms include estale (Old French). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers a deadlock in which no party can make progress. The wider family includes related words such as stale and mate.

## Topics
- Entertainment & Leisure
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown

stalemate

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback