Where does “table tennis” come from?
table tennis (English) comes from Portuguese mesa, from Old Portuguese mesa, from Vulgar Latin mesa, from Latin mēnsa, from Latin mēnsus, from Latin -tus, from Proto-Italic -tus, from Proto-Indo-European -tus — Derives action nouns from verb roots.
table tennis (English): A game or sport that involves the hitting of a...
Definitions
- A game or sport that involves the hitting of a...
Ancestry of “table tennis”, step by step
table tennis traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Portuguese mesa
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portuguese | mesa | table; meal, food; mesa |
| 2 | Old Portuguese | mesa | table |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | mesa | Alternative form of mēnsa |
| 4 | Latin | mēnsa | a table |
| 5 | Latin | mēnsus | having measured, estimated |
| 6 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |
via Spanish tenis
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | tenis | tennis; trainer, running shoe, tennis shoes,... |
| 2 | English | tennis | A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets |
| 3 | Old French | tenez | second-person plural present indicative of tenir;... |
| 4 | Old French | tenir | to possess; to have; to hold |
| 5 | Latin | teneō | to hold, have; to grasp |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | tenēō | to hold |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ten- | to stretch, to extend |