Where does “軟式庭球” come from?

軟式庭球 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 庭球, from Japanese 庭, from Old Japanese にわ.

Ancestry of “軟式庭球”, step by step

軟式庭球 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 庭球

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese庭球Synonym of テニス
2Japanese庭garden; place where something is done; at the...
3Old Japaneseにわ—

via Japanese 式

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese式type, style; formula; ceremony, ritual, function

via Japanese 軟

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese軟soft
Every word from Old Japanese にわ →Every word from Japanese 庭 →Every word from Japanese 庭球 →