Large black birds similar to crows; also, chess pieces shaped like castles that move horizontally or vertically any number of squares.
From Old English 'hrōc,' related to German 'Rabe' (raven). The chess piece name comes from the Arabic 'rukhkh' meaning 'chariot,' which entered European languages through medieval Arabic chess notation.
Rooks are incredibly intelligent birds that solve multi-step puzzles and recognize individual human faces—and on the chessboard, the 'castle' imagery comes from Persian war chariots, showing how games preserve ancient military vocabulary!
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