jaque

check; jeopardy, danger, threat

“No oí bien cuando me dijo « ¡Jaque! »” — I didn't hear well when she said "Check!"

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. 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]