tennis ball

noun

A hollow, bouncy rubber ball, pressurized and covered with usually yellow felt, used in the game of tennis.

OriginMiddle English teneys-ball →
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Meanings

nountennis ball (plural tennis balls)

plural tennis balls

  1. A hollow, bouncy rubber ball, pressurized and covered with usually yellow felt, used in the game of tennis.

    King. What Treaſure Vncle? / Exe. Tennis balles, my Liege.

    1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 72

Origin

  1. Middle Englishteneys-ball
  2. Englishtennis ball

From Middle English teneys-ball (attested in the plural teneys-ballis), equivalent to tennis + ball.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic كرة التنس
  • كرة التنس (kurat al-tunis)ball for tennis
Chinese Cantonese 網球 /网球
  • 網球 /网球 (mong⁵ kau⁴)ball for tennis
Chinese Mandarin 網球 /网球
  • 網球 /网球 (wǎngqiú)ball for tennis
Czech tenisák
  • tenisákball for tennis
Danish tennisbold
  • tennisboldball for tennis
Dutch tennisbal
  • tennisbalball for tennis
Finnish tennispallo
  • tennispalloball for tennis
French balle de tennis
  • balle de tennisball for tennis
German Tennisball
  • Tennisballball for tennis
Hebrew כדור טניס
  • כדור טניס (kador tenis)ball for tennis
Japanese テニスボール
  • テニスボール (tenisu bōru)ball for tennis
Korean 테니스공
  • 테니스공 (teniseugong)ball for tennis
Romanian minge de tenis
  • minge de tenisball for tennis
Russian те́ннисный мяч
  • те́ннисный мяч (tɛ́nnisnyj mjač)ball for tennis
Spanish bola de tenis
  • bola de tenisball for tennis
Swedish tennisboll
  • tennisbollball for tennis
Urdu ٹینس بال
  • ٹینس بالball for tennis
Cite this entry
APA

tennis ball. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tennis%20ball

MLA

“tennis ball.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tennis%20ball. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tennis ball,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tennis%20ball.

Source: tennis ball on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.