Czech

See also: czech

English

Czech edition of Wiktionary

Alternative forms

• (abbreviation): Cz.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Polish Czech, from Old Polish Czech, from Old Czech Čech, ultimately a variation and contraction of Proto-Slavic *čelověkъ (“human”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: chĕk, IPA^(key): /t͡ʃɛk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: check, cheque
• Rhymes: -ɛk

Adjective

Czech (not comparable)

1. Of, from, or pertaining to the Czech Republic (Czechia), the Czech people, culture, or language.
   • 2012 June 28, Jamie Jackson, “Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal”, in The Guardian‎:

     A big beast of the men's field was put through the mangle then dumped out of Wimbledon as Rafael Nadal fell at around 10.06pm to Lukas Rosol, a Czech debutant who will never forget this Thursday evening in south-west London.

Synonyms

• Czechian
• Czechic
• Czechish

Derived terms

• Czech Silesia
• Czechness
• Czechoslovak

Descendants

• → Burmese: ချက် (hkyak)

Translations

of, from, or pertaining to the country, people, culture or language

Afrikaans: Tsjeggies (af) Albanian: çek (sq) Arabic: تْشِيكِيّ (tšīkiyy) Egyptian Arabic: تشيكي (tšīkī) Hijazi Arabic: تشيكي (tšīkī) Armenian: չեխական (hy) (čʻexakan), չեխ (hy) (čʻex) Azerbaijani: çex Basque: txekiar Belarusian: чэ́шскі (čéšski), чэ́скі (čéski) (Taraškievica) Bengali: চেক (bn) (cek) Bulgarian: че́шки (čéški) Burmese: ချက် (my) (hkyak) Carpathian Rusyn: че́ськый (čésʹkŷj) Catalan: txec (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 捷克 (zh) (jiékè) Cornish: chek Czech: český (cs) Danish: tjekkisk (da) Dutch: Tsjechisch (nl) Esperanto: ĉeĥa (eo) Estonian: tšehhi Faroese: kekskur Finnish: tšekkiläinen (fi), tšekki (fi) French: tchèque (fr) Gagauz: çeh Galician: checo (gl) Georgian: ჩეხური (čexuri) German: tschechisch (de), böhmisch (de) Greek: τσέχικος (el) (tséchikos) Hebrew: צ׳כי (chekhi) Hindi: चेक (hi) (cek) Hungarian: cseh (hu) Icelandic: tékkneskur (is) Irish: Seiceach Italian: ceco (it) Japanese: チェコ (ja) (cheko) Kalenjin: Chek Kamba: Chek Kashubian: czesczi Kazakh: чех (çex) Khmer: ឆែក (km) (chaek) Korean: 체코 (ko) (cheko) Kyrgyz: чех (ky) (ceh) Lao: ເຊັກໂກ (sek kō) Latin: bohemicus Latvian: čehu, čehisks Lithuanian: čekų (lt), čekiškas (lt) Luhya: Chek Macedonian: чешки (češki) Malay: Czech Maltese: Ċek Manx: Sheckagh Marathi: चेक (cek) Meru: Chek Mongolian: Cyrillic: чех (čex) Norwegian: Bokmål: tsjekkisk (no) Nynorsk: tsjekkisk (nn) Old East Slavic: чешьскъ (češĭskŭ) Pashto: چکي (čekí) Persian: چک (fa) (ček), چکی (fa) (čeki) Polish: czeski (pl) m Portuguese: tcheco (pt), checo (pt) Romanian: ceh (ro) Russian: че́шский (ru) (čéšskij) Scottish Gaelic: Seiceach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: че̏шкӣ Roman: čȅškī (sh) Sinhalese: චෙක් (cek) Slovak: český (sk) Slovene: čéški (sl) Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: česki Upper Sorbian: čěski (hsb) Spanish: checo (es) Swahili: Kicheki Swedish: tjeckisk (sv) Tagalog: Tseko (tl) Tajik: чехӣ (tg) (čexi) Tatar: чех (çex) Thai: เช็ก (th) (chék) Turkish: Çek (tr) Turkmen: çeh Ukrainian: че́ський (uk) (čésʹkyj) Urdu: چیک (cek) Uyghur: چېخ (chëx) Uzbek: chex (uz) Vietnamese: Séc, Tiệp Welsh: Tsiecaidd Yiddish: טשעכיש (yi) (tshekhish)

Noun

Czech (countable and uncountable, plural Czechs)

1. (countable) A person from the Czech Republic (Czechia) or of Czech descent.
   • 1964, John F. Kennedy, “Immigration Policy”, in A Nation of Immigrants‎, Revised and Enlarged edition, Harper & Row, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 61:

     By 1963, almost 130,000 Czechs had migrated to this country. They tended to gravitate to the farming communities.

Translations

person

Afrikaans: Tsjeg Albanian: çek (sq) m Arabic: تْشِيكِيّ m (tšīkiyy), تْشِيكِيَّة (ar) f (tšīkiyya) Armenian: չեխ (hy) (čʻex) Azerbaijani: çex Basque: txekiar Belarusian: чэх m (čex), чэ́шка f (čéška) Bulgarian: чех (bg) m (čeh), чехки́ня f (čehkínja) Carpathian Rusyn: Чех m (Čex), Че́шка f (Čéška) Catalan: txec (ca) m, txeca (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 捷克人 (zh) (jiékèrén) Cornish: Chek m, Chekes f Czech: Čech (cs) m, Češka (cs) f Danish: tjekke (da) c, tjekker c Dutch: Tsjech (nl) m, Tsjechische (nl) f Esperanto: ĉeĥo, ĉeĥino (female) Estonian: tšehh Faroese: kekki m Finnish: tšekki (fi) French: Tchèque (fr) m or f Galician: checo (gl) m, checa f Georgian: ჩეხი (čexi) German: Tscheche (de) m, Tschechin (de) f Greek: Τσέχος (el) m (Tséchos), Τσέχα (el) f (Tsécha) Hebrew: צ׳כי m (chekhi), צֶ׳כִית f (chekhit) Hungarian: cseh (hu) Icelandic: Tékki m Irish: Seiceach Italian: ceco (it) m, ceca (it) f Japanese: チェコ人 (ja) (ちぇこじん, chekojin) Kazakh: чех (çex) Khmer: ឆែក (km) (chaek) Korean: 체코인 (ko) (chekoin), 체코 사람 (cheko saram) Kyrgyz: чех (ky) (ceh) Latin: Bohemus m Latvian: čehs m, čehiete f Lithuanian: čekas (lt) m, čekė (lt) f Macedonian: Чех m (Čeh), Чехинка f (Čehinka) Malay: orang Czech Maltese: Ċek m, Ċeka f Manx: Sheckagh m Marathi: चेक (cek) Mongolian: Cyrillic: чех хүн (čex xün) Norwegian: Bokmål: tsjekker (no) m Nynorsk: tsjekkar (nn) m Persian: چک (fa) (ček) Polish: Czech (pl) m pers, Czeszka (pl) f Portuguese: tcheco (pt) m, tcheca (pt) f, checo (pt) m, checa (pt) f Romanian: ceh (ro) m, cehă (ro) f, cehoaică (ro) f Russian: чех (ru) m (čex), че́шка (ru) f (čéška) Scottish Gaelic: Seiceach m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: Че̏х m, Че̏хиња f Roman: Čȅh (sh) m, Čȅhinja f Slovak: Čech (sk) m, Češka (sk) f Slovene: Čéh (sl) m, Čéhinja f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: Čech m, Čechowka f Upper Sorbian: Čech m, Čechowka f Spanish: checo (es) m, checa (es) f Swahili: Mcheki (sw) Swedish: tjeck (sv) c, tjeckiska (sv) c (female) Thai: ชาวเช็ก Turkish: Çek (tr) Turkmen: çeh Ukrainian: чех (uk) m (čex), че́шка f (čéška) Uyghur: چېخ (chëx) Uzbek: chex (uz) Vietnamese: người Séc, người Tiệp Welsh: Tsieciad m or f Yiddish: טשעך m (tshekh)

Proper noun

Czech

2. (uncountable) A Slavic language primarily spoken in the Czech Republic.
   • 2001 December 2, Giles Milton, “'The Riddle and the Knight'”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 19 April 2022:

     By the time this mysterious knight died in the 1360s, his book was available in every European language, including Dutch, Gaelic, Czech, Catalan, and Walloon.

3. (nonstandard) The Czech Republic (Czechia).
   • 2008, George Stowers, Straight Up, No Sippin': Memoirs of Life and Work Onboard Mega Cruise Ships, →ISBN, page 325:

     She's from Czech, Croatia, or somewhere over there. The ill thing is that we always come together when we're drunk, but half way through our drunken talks, she always gets mad at something and leaves.

   • 2009, Jennifer Lees-Marshment, Political Marketing: Principles and Applications, Routledge, →ISBN, page 237:

     A whole array of companies and consultants are found travelling to Croatia or Czech or China, to extol the latest virtues of electioneering, perhaps via the UK Westminster Foundation for Democracy, […]

Related terms

(language):

• Early Modern Czech
• Middle Czech
• Old Czech
• Proto-Czech

Translations

language

Afrikaans: Tsjeggies (af) Albanian: gjuha çeke f Amharic: ቼክኛ (čekña) Arabic: تْشِيكِيَّة (ar) f (tšīkiyya) Aragonese: Idioma checo Armenian: չեխերեն (hy) (čʻexeren) Asturian: checu (ast) m Azerbaijani: чех, çex Basque: txekiera (eu) Belarusian: чэ́шская мо́ва f (čéšskaja móva), чэ́шская f (čéšskaja), чэ́ская f (čéskaja) Breton: Tchekeg Bulgarian: че́шки (čéški) Catalan: txec (ca) m Central Franconian: Scheschisch Cherokee: ᏤᎬ (tsegv) Chinese: Mandarin: 捷克語 / 捷克语 (zh) (jiékèyǔ) Cornish: Chekek m, Tsieceg f Czech: čeština (cs) f, český jazyk (cs) m Danish: tjekkisk (da) Dhivehi: ޗެކް (cek̊) Dutch: Tsjechisch (nl) n Esperanto: ĉeĥa (eo) Estonian: tšehhi Faroese: kekkiskt (fo) n, kekskt n Finnish: tšekki (fi) French: tchèque (fr) m Galician: checo (gl) m Georgian: ჩეხური (čexuri), ჩეხური ენა (čexuri ena) German: Tschechisch (de) n, Böhmisch n (dated) Greek: τσεχικά (el) n pl (tsechiká) Greenlandic: tjekkiamiusut Gujarati: ચેક (gu) (cek) Hebrew: צ׳כית \ צֶ׳כִית (he) f (chekhít) Hindi: चेक (hi) (cek) Hungarian: cseh (hu) Icelandic: tékkneska (is) f Indonesian: Ceko Irish: Seicis f Italian: ceco (it) m Japanese: チェコ語 (ja) (チェコご, chekogo) Khmer: ឆែក (km) (chaek) Korean: 체크어 (chekeueo) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: Çekî Lao: ພາສາເຊັກໂກ (phā sāsek kō) Latin: lingua bōhēmica f Latvian: čehu, čehu valoda f Limburgish: Tsjèchisj n Lithuanian: Čekų, Čekiškai Macedonian: чешки m (češki) Malay: bahasa Czech Maltese: Iċ-Ċek Manx: Sheckish f Marathi: चेक f (cek) Moksha: цеконь (cekoń) Mongolian: Cyrillic: чех (čex), чех хэл (čex xel) Navajo: Chek bizaad Norwegian: Bokmål: tsjekkisk (no) m Nynorsk: tsjekkisk (nn) m Occitan: chèc (oc) m Persian: چکی (fa) (čeki) Polish: (język) czeski (pl) m inan Portuguese: checo (pt) m (Portugal), tcheco (pt) m (Brazil) Romanian: cehă (ro) Russian: че́шский (ru) m (čéšskij) Scottish Gaelic: Seacais f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: че̏шкӣ m Roman: čȅškī (sh) m Slovak: čeština (sk) f Slovene: čéščina (sl) f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: češćina f Upper Sorbian: čěšćina (hsb) f Spanish: checo (es) m Swahili: Kicheki Swedish: tjeckiska (sv) Tamil: செக (ceka) Tatar: чех (çex) Thai: ภาษาเช็ก Tigrinya: ቼክኛ (čekña) Turkish: Çekçe (tr) Ukrainian: че́ська (uk) f (čésʹka) Urdu: چیک (cek) Uzbek: chex (uz) Vietnamese: tiếng Séc (vi), tiếng Tiệp Walloon: Tcheke Welsh: Tsieceg (cy) West Frisian: Tsjechysk (fy) Yiddish: טשעכיש (yi) n (tshekhish) Zulu: Isiczechoslovakia

See also

• Bohemian
• Wiktionary’s coverage of Czech terms
• Appendix:Czech Swadesh list for a Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words in Czech

Further reading

• ISO 639-1 code cs, ISO 639-3 code ces (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Czech, ces ⁠
• Czech language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Old Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Czech Čech. First attested in 1440.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /t͡ʃʲʲɛx/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /t͡ʃʲʲɛx/

Proper noun

Czech m animacy unattested

1. (attested in Greater Poland) Czech (person from Czechia)
   • c. 1500, Wokabularz lubiński, Lubiń: inkunabuł Archiwum Archidiecezjalnego w Gnieźnie, sygn. Inc. 78d., page 19v:

     Bohemus est aliquis de Bohemia Czech

     [Bohemus est aliquis de Bohemia Czech]

2. a male surname

Descendants

• Polish: Czech
  • → English: Czech
    • → Burmese: ချက် (hkyak)
• Silesian: Czech

References

• Witold Taszycki, editor (1965-1967), “Czech”, in Słownik staropolskich nazw osobowych (in Polish), volume 1, Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, page 412
• Ewa Deptuchowa, Mariusz Frodyma, Katarzyna Jasińska, Magdalena Klapper, Dorota Kołodziej, Mariusz Leńczuk, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, editors (2023), “Czech”, in Rozariusze z polskimi glosami. Internetowa baza danych [Dictionaries of Polish glosses, an Internet database] (in Polish), Kraków: Pracownia Języka Staropolskiego Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʂɛx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛx
• Syllabification: Czech

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Polish Czech.

Noun

Czech m pers (female equivalent Czeszka)

1. Czech; Bohemian

Declension

Declension of Czech

	singular	plural
nominative	Czech	Czesi/Czechy (deprecative)
genitive	Czecha	Czechów
dative	Czechowi	Czechom
accusative	Czecha	Czechów
instrumental	Czechem	Czechami
locative	Czechu	Czechach
vocative	Czechu	Czesi

Proper noun

Czech m pers

1. a male surname

Declension

Declension of Czech

	singular	plural
nominative	Czech	Czechowie
genitive	Czecha	Czechów
dative	Czechowi	Czechom
accusative	Czecha	Czechów
instrumental	Czechem	Czechami
locative	Czechu	Czechach
vocative	Czechu	Czechowie

Proper noun

Czech f (indeclinable)

1. a female surname

Descendants

• → English: Czech
  • → Burmese: ချက် (hkyak)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Proper noun

Czech pl

1. genitive of Czechy

Further reading

• Czech in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Czech in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• “Czech”, in Internetowy słownik nazwisk w Polsce [Internet dictionary of surnames in Poland], 2022