fers

F4E1R1S1
UK/ˈfɜːz/US/ˈfɜɹz/

noun

The medieval chess piece that developed into the modern queen.

UncommonScrabble 7

Meanings

fers1

nounfers (plural ferses)

plural ferses · alternative ferz

  1. 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 112
    2 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 138

    In 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
  2. 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

proper noun
  1. USinitialismgovernmentFederal Employees Retirement System.

Origin

  1. Classical Persianفَرْزِین
  2. Medieval Latinferzia
  3. Old Frenchfierce
  4. Middle Englishfers
  5. Englishfers

Borrowed from Middle English fers, from Old French fierce, from Medieval Latin ferzia, from Classical Persian فَرْزِین (farzīn).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with fers

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Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

fers. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fers

MLA

“fers.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fers. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fers,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fers.

Source: fers on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.