Croquet
/ˈkroʊ.keɪ/noun
A lawn game in which players use mallets to hit balls through a series of hoops.
Did you know?Croquet is from French croquet, a diminutive of croc (“hook”), ultimately from the same Germanic root that gave English crook, proving the game’s name began as a word for a hooked shape.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*krōkaz
“hook, bend, crook”
Old French
French
croc
“hook, claw, crook”
Middle French
French
croquet
“little hook; hooked stick”
19th Century
English
croquet
“the lawn game played with mallets and balls through hoops”
Modern English
English
croquet
“a lawn game in which players hit balls through a series of hoops”