billiards
pronunciation
How to pronounce billiards in British English:
UK [ˈbɪliədz]
How to pronounce billiards in American English:
US [ˈbɪljərdz]
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- Noun:
- any of several games played on rectangular cloth-covered table (with cushioned edges) in which long tapering cue sticks are used to propel ivory (or composition) balls
Word Origin
- billiards
- billiards: [16] Billiard comes from French billard, which is the name not only of the game, but also of the cue it is played with. And the cue is the clue to the word’s history, for it comes from French bille ‘tree trunk’, hence ‘long cylindrical bit of wood’. The import of the -ard suffix is not altogether clear, but another suffix used with bille was the diminutive -ette, from which English got billet ‘piece of wood’ [15] (not to be confused with billet ‘assignment to lodgings’; see BILL). Bille itself came from medieval Latin billa or billus, which may have been of Celtic origin.=> billet
- billiards (n.)
- 1590s, from French billiard, originally the word for the wooden cue stick, a diminutive from Old French bille "stick of wood," from Medieval Latin billia "tree, trunk," possibly from Gaulish (compare Irish bile "tree trunk").
Example
- 1. They will charge you $ 3 per hour for playing billiards .
- 2. And young men like billiards and cards , which take their minds off the imbecility of everyday work .
- 3. A pr2 was recently programmed to play pool using an open-source billiards engine posted online .
- 4. Mooney quit the board of the world professional billiards and snooker association in the wake of the allegations .
- 5. Built in 1892 , the castle still retains its rustic charm with a " walk-in ice box room " and a billiards room .