Words That Don't Exist: Luft

Technically this is already a chess term, but that doesn't make it "an English word" any more than "zugzwang" is "an English word".

But then, the notion of "what an English word is" is rather fraught, isn't it? Is a loanword less of a loanword than it would otherwise be if it's only used in niche contexts? Is "umami" an English word? What about "schadenfreude"?

Anyway, I didn't know about the chess meaning of this word when I first noted it down during a game of Lexica (naturally, I'll be searching up any word I feature here just in case Lexica is the one that was wrong, which it not-infrequently is) so I'm going to use it anyway.

Luft

• Noun: The state of rising or falling slowly, gently, thanks to one's copious covering of feathers or fur.
• Verb: To be or cause to be in the state of luft.

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Words That Don't Exist

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