In tennis two players hit a small yellow ball over a net, back and forth. Play tennis, a tennis court, tennis racket.
The scoring — fifteen, thirty, forty, deuce — is inherited from the medieval indoor game and nobody has satisfactorily explained the forty. Love means zero. The modern outdoor game dates from the 1870s. Note that the name probably comes from the French tenez, meaning take it, called by the server.
1nountennisA game in which two or four players hit a ball over a net.
“They played tennis on the courts in the park every Saturday.”
tennis is a sport.
Middle English tenetz probably comes from Old French tenez, take it, called by the server. The scoring came from the older indoor game.
Middle English
tennys
English, today
tennis
Built from
From Middle English tennys, teneys, tenis, from Old French tenez.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA