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descriptive notation

Meaning of "descriptive notation" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

PRONUNCIATION OF DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION

descriptive notation


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Descriptive notation is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Descriptive notation

Descriptive notation is a notation for recording chess games, and at one time was the most popular notation in English- and Spanish-speaking countries . It was used in Europe until it was superseded by algebraic notation, introduced by Philipp Stamma in 1737. Algebraic notation is more concise and requires less effort to avoid ambiguity; however much older literature uses descriptive notation. Descriptive notation exists in many language-based variants, the most prevalent being English descriptive notation and Spanish descriptive notation. Howard Staunton, in The Chess-Player's Handbook, uses a cumbersome early version, viz., "P. to K's 4th.". Notably, in the back of the book he offers brief descriptions of long algebraic notation, stating its adoption by "Alexandre, Jaenisch, the 'Handbuch,' and in Germany generally", and of ICCF numeric notation, which he calls "Koch's Notation". FIDE stopped recognizing descriptive notation in 1981.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION

descrambler · describable · describe · describer · descried · descrier · descries · description · descriptive · descriptive geometry · descriptive linguistics · descriptive metaphysics · descriptive statistics · descriptively · descriptiveness · descriptivism · descriptivist · descriptor · descrive · descry

WORDS THAT END LIKE DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION

accreditation · action · administration · animation · application · association · certification · citation · combination · communication · confirmation · conversation · corporation · creation · decoration · destination · documentation · duration · education · evaluation · excitation

Synonyms and antonyms of descriptive notation in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «descriptive notation» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION

Find out the translation of descriptive notation to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of descriptive notation from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «descriptive notation» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

描述性的符号
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

notación descriptiva
570 millions of speakers
en

English

descriptive notation
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

वर्णनात्मक अंकन
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

تدوين وصفي
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

описательный обозначения
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

notação descritiva
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

বর্ণনামূলক অঙ্কন
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

notation descriptive
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

Notasi deskriptif
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

deskriptiven Notation
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

記述的表記法
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

설명 표기
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Notasi deskriptif
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

ký hiệu mô tả
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

விளக்கக் குறிப்புகள்
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

वर्णनात्मक नोटेशन
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

Tanımlayıcı gösterim
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

notazione descrittiva
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

oznaczenie opisowe
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

описовий позначення
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

notație descriptiv
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

περιγραφικό σημειογραφία
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

beskrywende notasie
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

beskrivande betecknings
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

beskrivende notasjon
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of descriptive notation

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of descriptive notation
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «descriptive notation».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about descriptive notation

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION»

Discover the use of descriptive notation in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to descriptive notation and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-one Issues and Concepts
The distinction between prescriptive and descriptive notation was Seeger's terminology for music for performance versus analysis. But there is an obvious correlate. Typically, outsiders, trying to be “descriptive,” start by writing everything they ...
Bruno Nettl, 2005
2
The Temporal Structure of Estonian Runic Songs
Prescriptive and descriptive notation Seeger (1958) has distinguished between two kinds of musical notation, prescriptive and descriptive. Prescriptive notation is usually associated with Western European classical music. Prescriptive notation  ...
Jaan Ross, Ilse Lehiste, 2001
3
101 Questions on How to Play Chess
How is descriptive notation different from algebraic notation? In descriptive notation, each file is named for the piece that stands on it at the beginning of the game. The name remains constant, even after the pieces have moved away from their ...
Fred Wilson, 1994
4
The Game of Chess:
Alternate names for this notation include descriptive notation, English notation, and English descriptive notation. It is not used often today (most people today use algebraic chess notation), but is still important for understanding older textbooks ...
Nicolae Sfetcu, 2014
5
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess
In this appendix I will explain the other major system for describing chess moves, called descriptive notation. Descriptive notation is no longer commonly used, but many older books and magazines still in print use it, and if you want to be able ...
Patrick Wolff, 2003
6
Pandolfini's Chess Complete: The Most Comprehensive Guide to ...
Accordingly, each rank in descriptive notation has two names, depending on which perspective is being used. White's first rank is Black's eighth, White's second is Black's seventh, White's third is Black's sixth, and so on. When using descriptive ...
Bruce Pandolfini, 1992
7
Charles Seeger: A Life in American Music
He then delineated the differences between prescriptive and descriptive notation. Prescriptive notation, which is subjective, aimed at and reflected in performance, is the type most prevalent in music. Its success or failure hinges on the ...
Ann M. Pescatello, 1992
8
Blindfold Chess: History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, ...
Unfortunately, Philidor's style of descriptive notation (which is slightly longer) gained popularity as a rival system—particularly in England and the United States—and it is only recently that the algebraic system has come into virtually universal ...
Eliot Hearst, John Knott, 2009
9
Extended Notation: The Depiction of the Unconventional
Further, descriptive notation completely abandons the utilisation of a notation system. The action that leads to a sonic result is, in such a case, depicted by writing it down in the traditional manner24. An example of such a method of notation is ...
Christian Dimpker, 2013
10
The Everything Chess Basics Book
In the old English descriptive notation the files are given the names of the pieces which occupy the first square on them in the original position. To distinguish the two sides of the board from one another (right vs. left), those pieces near the king  ...
Peter Kurzdorfer, Us Chess Federation, 2003

8 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term descriptive notation is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Garry Kasparov humbled by Westminster peer, but what did the …
Lord Harrison sent me the game in English descriptive notation. I know that many readers were brought up on it, as I was, so in honour of Lord ... «Telegraph.co.uk, Dec 14»
2
Dominic Lawson host as chess returns to BBC radio after half a …
... week to the next, especially because the moves were given in the now discarded descriptive notation. Next week's listeners will have it easier ... «The Guardian, Dec 13»
3
Play it by ear: Chess on the radio
In those far-off days, they used English Descriptive notation, of course. If you move your knight on the first move, this can be "Knight to King's ... «The Independent, Dec 13»
4
Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands
Such descriptive notation, often laid out in copiously detailed footnotes, can make Moore sound more like a recording secretary than a ... «Christian Science Monitor, May 13»
5
ChessBase 12 – primer on installation and new functions
You can even select descriptive notation, where 1.d4 is displayed as 1.P-Q4. The piece names can be modified or figurine notation chosen, ... «Chessbase News, Feb 13»
6
Tweaking Fritz - PART 1
Sorry, but the archaic form called "descriptive notation" is not an option in Fritz. Moving on to the box immediately below "Notation", you'll see ... «Chessbase News, May 08»
7
Fritz trainer: Emanuel Lasker, New York 1924
This was not very difficult since Lasker refers to the moves very clearly (albeit in descriptive notation), probably expecting that there would be a ... «Chessbase News, Apr 07»
8
ChessBase and Correspondence chess – part 2
... "computer" algebraic (i.e. 1.d2-d4, which displays both the starting and ending squares for a move), or even old-style descriptive notation (i.e. ... «Chessbase News, Mar 07»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Descriptive notation [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/descriptive-notation>. Jun 2026 ».
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