English word tennis comes from Proto-Indo-European *tengʰ-, and later Proto-Indo-European *tetóne (To be stretched, extended.)
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| *tengʰ- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| tener | Latin (lat) | (poetic) erotic. Effeminate, sensitive. Soft, delicate, tender. Young, youthful. |
| *tetóne | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | To be stretched, extended. |
| *tenēō | Proto-Italic (itc-pro) | Hold. |
| teneo | Latin (lat) | (of laws) I am binding on; bind, hold, obligate. (reflexive) I keep back, remain, stay, hold position. I comprise, contain, include, hold. I hold fast, restrain, detain, check, control; bind, fetter. I hold, have; grasp. I insist, uphold. I know, grasp, understand, conceive. I possess, occupy, control. I reach, attain; gain, acquire, obtain. I recollect, retain knowledge of, remember, bear [...] |
| *tenīre | Vulgar Latin (la-vul) | |
| *tenio | Latin (lat) | (Vulgar Latin, Gallo-Romance) I have, possess.. (Vulgar Latin, Gallo-Romance) I hold. |
| tenir | Old French (842-ca. 1400) (fro) | To hold. To possess; to have. |
| tennis | English (eng) | (dated) A match in this sport.. (obsolete) An earlier game in which a ball is driven to and fro, or kept in motion by striking it with a racquet or with the open hand.. (sports) A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets. (intransitive, dated) To play tennis.. (transitive) To drive backward and forward like a tennis ball. |