Meanings
fers1
plural ferses · alternative ferz
- historicalboard gamesThe medieval chess piece that developed into the modern queen.
This fers mates him in straight lines; this fers mates him at an angle.
2015 September 28, Nancy Marie Brown, Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them, New York: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 1122 more examples
With their introduction the fers and the alfil disappeared from European chess.
1898 January 28, A. A. McDonald, “The Origin and Early History of Chess”, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, volume 30, number 1, London: Royal Asiatic Society, →DOI, →ISBN, page 138In the Chronique of Philip Mouskat (a.d. 1243), lines 23617–20, is a reference to a king of Fierges, indicating that a fers could be promoted to a king at this early period.
1979 [1960], R. C. Bell, “War Games”, in Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, 2nd edition, New York: Dover Publications, →ISBN, page 71 - board gamesA fairy chess piece that moves one square diagonally.
1 more example
In Monochromatic chess moves are only allowed between cells of the same colour. Thus the kings are reduced to ferses, the rooks to dabbabariders, and the knights to dummies. […] Another type of rider is the Mao which is the knight in Chinese chess. It makes its move in two steps, a noncapturing wazir move followed by a fers move, so the cell moved through must be vacant. The Moa (W.Speckman) is a knight that moves as fers followed by wazir.
2010 August 21, G. P. Jelliss, “Simple Chess Variants”, in Mayhematics, pages 4, 10
FERS2
- USinitialismgovernmentFederal Employees Retirement System.
Origin
- Classical Persianفَرْزِین
- Medieval Latinferzia
- Old Frenchfierce
- Middle Englishfers
- Englishfers
Borrowed from Middle English fers, from Old French fierce, from Medieval Latin ferzia, from Classical Persian فَرْزِین (farzīn).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fers
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
fers. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fers
“fers.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fers. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fers,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fers.
Source: fers on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.