What does chace mean?
Chace is an archaic and dialectal spelling of the more familiar word 'chase', referring to the act of pursuing a person, animal, or thing. It appears most often in historical documents, literature from before the standardisation of English spelling, and in place names or surnames. In its secondary sense, a chace denoted an area of open land reserved for hunting by royalty or nobility, similar to a forest or park designated for that purpose. The word entered Middle English from Old French 'chacier', meaning to hunt or pursue, ultimately tracing back to Latin roots connected with capturing. Today, encountering 'chace' usually signals either an antique text, a regional dialect survival, or a family name such as that of the American statesman Salmon P. Chase's contemporaries who bore the variant spelling. Readers will find the word charmingly antiquated rather than incorrect — it carries the scent of medieval hunts, forest law, and the era when English orthography had yet to settle into its modern conventions.
nounAn obsolete or dialectal variant spelling of 'chase', meaning an act of pursuing someone or something, or land set aside for hunting.
- An act of pursuing someone or something (obsolete/dialectal form of 'chase')
- An area of unenclosed land reserved for hunting (as in 'the New Forest Chace')
"The hounds swept across the royal chace at dawn."
"The fox led the pack on a merry chace across the countryside."
"Deer roamed freely within the boundaries of the old royal chace."
The plural follows regular English patterns, though the word itself is rarely encountered in modern usage.
"The medieval records describe several royal chaces throughout England."
Before standardised spelling took hold in the 18th century, English writers freely swapped 'chase' and 'chace' — Shakespeare used both.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chace
Chace derives from Old French 'chacier', meaning to hunt or pursue, which itself developed from Late Latin 'captiare', formed on 'capere' (to take or seize). The word entered Middle English following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when French vocabulary flooded into English law, hunting, and aristocratic life. For centuries 'chace' and 'chase' existed as interchangeable spellings of the same word, with 'chase' gradually prevailing as spelling became standardised. A notable relative is 'purchase', which originally meant to pursue or obtain through effort before narrowing to its commercial sense.
How chace is actually used
This spelling is now considered archaic or dialectal and appears mainly in historical texts, proper names, and surnames. Modern writers should use 'chase'.
Easily confused with chace
'Chace' is simply an older or dialectal spelling of the same word 'chase', which remains the standard modern form.