Racketball
/ˈrækɪtˌbɔːl/noun
A game played with rackets and a ball, especially the sport also known as racquetball.
Did you know?The spelling “racketball” is an established variant of “racquetball,” whose first element ultimately traces through European forms of the word for a hand-held striking instrument.
Etymological Timeline
Late Antiquity
Arabic
rāḥa
“Palm of the hand; a proposed distant source for the European word behind racket”
15th Century
Spanish
raqueta
“Racket or small bat, borrowed through Iberian forms”
16th Century
French
raquette
“Racket used in games”
Old English
Old English
beall
“A rounded object or ball”
Middle English
English
bal
“A spherical object used in games”
20th Century
American English
racquetball
“A game played with rackets and a hollow rubber ball”
Modern English
English
racketball
“Variant spelling of racquetball”