Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “telly tennis” come from?

telly tennis (English) comes from English telly, from English tell, from Middle English tellen, from Old English tellan, from Proto-West Germanic talljan, from Proto-Germanic taljaną, from Proto-Germanic talą, from Proto-Indo-European dol- — to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,...

telly tennis (English): The game of Pong, or any TV game closely based on...

Definitions

  1. The game of Pong, or any TV game closely based on...

Ancestry of “telly tennis”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtellyTelevision; A television set; A hotel or motel
2EnglishtellTo count, reckon, or enumerate; To narrate; To...
3Middle Englishtellento count; to tell
4Old Englishtellanto count, calculate; to tell, narrate, recount;...
5Proto-West Germanictalljanto count, to enumerate; to recount, to tell
6Proto-Germanictaljanąto enumerate, count; to account, recount, tell
7Proto-Germanictaląspeech; number
8Proto-Indo-Europeandol-reckoning, calculation, fraud; calculation, fraud
9Proto-Indo-Europeandel-to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European del- →