checkered

English

Alternative forms

• chequered (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree

English check

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-os?

Proto-Indo-European *-o-

Proto-Indo-European *-so-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-āsijos

Proto-Italic *-āsios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

▲

Latin -ārius

Old French -ierbor.

Middle English -er

English -er

English checker

English -ed

English checkered

From checker + -ed.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

checkered (comparative more checkered, superlative most checkered)

1. Divided into a grid of squares of alternating colours or shades, or into light and dark patches.

   That is a checkered tablecloth.

2. (figurative) Changeable; inconsistent; having variations or uncertainty; marked by many problems or failures.
   • 1876 October, Henry James, Jr., chapter XII, in The American, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, […], published 5 May 1877, →OCLC, page 197:

     “What a checkered career!” said Newman.

Derived terms

• checkered flag
• green-white-checkered
• uncheckered

Translations

divided into squares

• Arabic: مُرَبَّعَات (murabbaʕāt)
• Asturian: axedrezáu
• Bulgarian: кари́ран (bg) (karíran)
• Burmese: ကျား (my) (kya:)
• Catalan: escacat, endauat
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 棋盤式的 / 棋盘式的 (qípánshì de), 方格相間的 / 方格相间的 (fānggé xiāngjiàn de), 黑白相間的 / 黑白相间的 (hēibái xiāngjiàn de)

• Czech: kostkovaný, kárový
• Danish: ternet
• Dutch: dambordachtig, schaakbordachtig, geblokt (nl)
• Finnish: ruudullinen (fi)
• French: à carreaux, échiqueté (fr) (especially in heraldry), carreauté (fr) (Louisiana), en damier (fr)
• Galician: axadrezado (gl)
• German: kariert (de), schachbrettartig (de)
• Hungarian: kockás (hu), pepita (hu)
• Irish: seicear
• Italian: scaccato (it), a quadri, quadrettato (it), a scacchi, a quadretti
• Japanese: 格子模様の (こうしもようの, kōshi moyō no)
• Malay: gandan
• Norwegian: rutete
• Persian: چارخانه (čârxâne)
• Polish: kraciasty (pl), w kratkę
• Portuguese: quadriculado (pt), axadrezado, xadrez (pt)
• Romanian: caroiat
• Russian: кле́тчатый (ru) (klétčatyj), в кле́тку (ru) (v klétku)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: коцкаст

  Latin: kockast (sh)

• Spanish: a cuadros, ajedrezado (es), escaqueado (es)
• Swedish: rutig (sv), schackrutig (sv)
• Turkish: damalı (tr), satrançlı (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: سطرنجلو (satranclı)

• Welsh: sgwarog

changeable; inconsistent; having variations or uncertainty; marked by many problems or failures

• Arabic: مُرِيب (murīb), مَشْكُوك فِيهِ (maškūk fīhi)
• Bulgarian: пъстър (bg) (păstăr)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不穩定的 / 不稳定的 (bù wěndìng de), 變化無常的 / 变化无常的 (biànhuàwúcháng de), 問題叢生的 / 问题丛生的 (wèntí cóngshēng de)

• Dutch: bont (nl)
• Finnish: kirjava (fi), värikäs (fi)
• German: wechselvoll (de)
• Hungarian: (lit. “colorful”) tarka (hu), tarkabarka (hu), színes (hu), (changeable) változatos (hu), (eventful) fordulatos (hu), eseménydús (hu), mozgalmas (hu), (marked by many problems or failures) hányatott (hu), hányattatott
• Italian: variegato (it), contrastato (it), a luci e ombre
• Japanese: 数奇 (ja) (sūki)
• Russian: пёстрый (ru) (pjóstryj), изме́нчивый (ru) (izménčivyj), разнообра́зный (ru) (raznoobráznyj)
• Swedish: brokig (sv)

See also

• checked
• chequered

Verb

checkered

1. simple past and past participle of checker

Anagrams

• rechecked