| 释义 |
▪ I. tennis, n.|ˈtɛnɪs|
Forms: α. 4–5 teˈnetz, 5 teneys, 6 ten(n)es; β. 5 tenyce, tenyys, 5–6 tenys, -yse, tennys, -yse, 6 tenice, tennysse, (tinnis), 6–7 tenis, -ise, tennise, -ice, (7 Sc. tinneis), 6– tennis.
[Known c 1400 in form teˈnetz, later teˈnnes, teˈneys, -ys, -yce, teˈnise; in It. mentioned in the Cronica di Firenze of Donato Velluti (who died in 1370) as tenes, and said to have been introduced into Florence by French knights early in the year 1325. For ulterior history and etymology see Note below.]
1. A game in which a ball is struck with a racket and driven to and fro by two players in an enclosed oblong court, specially constructed for the purpose, and (in the developed form of the game) having an enclosed corridor on one of the long sides roofed over by a penthouse. Now usu. known as real tennis (see real a.2 2 e) to distinguish the game from the more popular lawn tennis (see 2).
The game had originally a much simpler form, the ball being struck with the palm of the hand (hence F. la paume). It was also played in the open air, as still in some places in France, and down to about 1800 in England under the name field-tennis, of which lawn-tennis may be considered a greatly modified revival.
c1400Gower In Praise of Peace 295 Of the Tenetz [ed. 1532 tennes] to winne or lese a chace, Mai no lif wite er that the bal be ronne. c1440Promp. Parv. 488/2 Teneys, pley, teniludus (P. manupilatus, tenisia). 1441Court Roll Pershore, Worc. (Westminster Ch. Munim.), Nullus eorum..frequentabit ludum qui vocatur the tenyse playng in communi via domini Regis nec in aliquo loco privato ibidem. c1460Towneley Myst. xiii. 736, I bryng the bot a balle: Haue and play the with alle, And go to the tenys [rime pennys]. 1463Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 221 Pleyynd at the tennys. a1470Tiptoft Tulle on Friendsh. (Caxton 1481) C iv, Lyke corage & disposicion to pleyeng atte tenyce. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxvi. 74 Gascone and his brother yuan fell out toguyder, playeng at tennes. 1535Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 25 §8 Any open..place for commen bowling, dysyng, carding, closhe, tenys, or other unlawfull games. 1540Morysine Vives' Introd. Wysd. C j b, Oft tymes he commeth vp a pase, that can playe well at tennysse. 1550Crowley Last Trumpet 562 To play tenise, or tosse the ball. 1565–73Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Bonus, Good at tennice. 1601Holland Pliny (1634) I. 190 Pythus was the first plaier at tennise. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. i. 59. 1617 Minsheu Ductor, Tennis play..aut à tenez Gal: i. hould, which word the Frenchmen, the onely tennis players, vse to speake when they strike the ball, at tennis. 1634Rowley Noble Souldier ii. ii, I ha been at Tennis, Madam, with the King. I gave him 15 and all his faults. 1679C. Hatton in H. Corr. (Camden) 189 Last Wednesday his Maty play'd at tenis. 1789Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France II. 26 He invited them to..play a great match at tennis. 1793Sporting Mag. 29 Sept. 371 Field-tennis threatens ere long to bowl out cricket. 1865Merivale Rom. Emp. VIII. lxiv. 116 Then he uses strong exercise for a considerable space at tennis. 1878J. Marshall (title) The Annals of Tennis.
fig.1611Tourneur Ath. Trag. ii. iv, Drop out Mine eye-bals and let enuious Fortune pla At tennis with 'em. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 463 In the Tennis of Fortune. 1899S. K. Hocking in Daily News 2 Sept. 6/3 He had a decided objection to ‘playing tennis with the seventh commandment’.
2. a. Short for lawn-tennis (q.v.), a game played with a ball and rackets on an unenclosed rectangular space on a smooth grass lawn or a floor of hard gravel, cement, asphalt, etc., called a court. (This is now the usual sense.)
Introduced about 1874 (see lawn-tennis); reduced to its present form in 1877. Tennis has replaced lawn tennis as the official international name of the sport.
1878Geo. Eliot Let. 8 Aug. (1956) VII. 54 My little man..fights resolutely against these ills..having mild games of tennis. 1888St. James' Gaz. Aug., It is melancholy to see a word which has held its own for centuries gradually losing its connotation. Such a word is ‘tennis’, by which nine persons out of ten to-day would understand the game of recent invention played on an unconfined court. 1895Scully Kafir Stories 80 The tennis-ground was overgrown with grass—his predecessor's family evidently had not cared about tennis.
b. anyone for tennis?, who's for tennis?, etc., a typical entrance or exit line given to a young man in a superficial drawing-room comedy, used attrib. of (someone or something reminiscent of) this kind of comedy. Also in extended uses.
1953J. van Druten Playwright at Work viii. 99 There is no average Mr. and Mrs. Blank at all. An attempt to draw one..will lead you into the pit of emptiness, and you will emerge with something as unreal as the juveniles in plays who come in impertinently swinging tennis rackets, and when the time for their exit arrives, make it with the remark: ‘Tennis, anyone?’ 1965Listener 17 June 911/3 One of the panel spoke of ‘Who's-for-tennis’ comedy,..now a too-familiar pejorative. 1973Times 16 Jan. 11/1 The most unlikely men around London are now dressing as though they might say ‘Anyone for tennis?’ at any moment. 1974N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 34 She had seen him..spring up to answer the telephone with an Anyone-for-tennis voice that filled her with pity. 1978H. MacInnes Prelude to Terror ii. 20 He walked over to the small group of staff members... ‘Who's for tennis?’ he asked, and raised a smile.
c. See table-tennis s.v. table n. 22.
3. attrib. and Comb.
a. Of, belonging to, or used in playing real tennis, as tennis coat, tennis game; see also tennis-ball, -play, etc.
1516Harl. MS. 2284 lf. 21 Blew velwete for *Tenes Cote for the king.
1552Huloet, *Tennyse game, or playinge at tennyse, sphæromachia.
b. Of, pertaining to, used or worn in lawn-tennis, as tennis apron, tennis-bag, tennis dress, tennis frock, tennis-game, tennis-ground, tennis-hat, tennis-jacket, tennis-lawn, tennis match (also fig.), tennis netting, tennis partner, tennis party, tennis-racket, tennis shirt, tennis shorts, tennis sock, tennis-suit, tennis tournament; tennis arm, -elbow, -knee, an arm, elbow, or knee sprained in playing lawn-tennis; tennis club: see club n. 14; tennis flannels (see flannel n. 2 b); tennis-ground, a piece of ground laid or marked out for the game of lawn-tennis; a lawn-tennis court or set of courts; tennis net, a net stretched across the centre of a tennis-court, over which the players strike the ball; tennis-pro(fessional, a tennis player who is paid to act as an instructor and a player at a tennis club, holiday resort, etc.; tennis shoe, a light canvas soft-soled shoe suitable for tennis or general casual wear; tennis stringer U.S., a person who strings tennis rackets; tennis whites (see white n. 9 b). See also tennis-ball, -court, -player.
1880L. Higgin Handbk. Needlework ii. 11 Kirriemuir Twill..is good for *tennis aprons, dresses, curtains, &c. 1977New Yorker 10 Oct. 123/3 It now sells not only tennis balls, racquets, and apparel but all sorts of knick-knacks—..telephone books, tennis aprons, [etc.].
1887Epoch 19 Aug. 26/2 The ‘base-ball pitcher's arm’ as well as the ‘*tennis arm’ are recognized in the medical profession as special diseases.
1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 466/1 Each with a flannel *tennis-bag in her hand.
1908R. W. Chambers Younger Set viii, Eileen..strolled houseward across the lawn, switching the shaven sod with her *tennis bat.
1894Harper's Mag. June 156/1 The champion player in our *tennis club. 1914L. S. Woolf Wise Virgins ii. 41 May was describing the tennis club dance. 1979K. Conlon Move in Game i. i. 14 Why don't you take her with you to the tennis club?
1885C. M. Yonge Nuttie's Father I. xi. 123 Nuttie was very much pleased with her own pretty *tennis dress. 1977J. Didion Bk. Common Prayer v. xvii. 258, I never saw her in a tennis dress.
1883Pall Mall G. 30 May 3/1 If *tennis elbow becomes anything like as usual an ailment as tennis playing is an accomplishment.
1899Kipling From Sea to Sea I. xx. 404 Member of the Clapham Athletic Club in *tennis flannels. 1934[see gravel court s.v. gravel n. 9]. 1981J. Johnston Christmas Tree 33 There was a green stain on his tennis flannels, just below the knee.
1934A. Thirkell Wild Strawberries ix. 191 Ursule, in a short silk *tennis frock, looked quite presentable.
1891‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley v, He was sitting on the garden seat near the *tennis-ground.
1890Army & Navy Stores Catal. Mar. 1180 *Tennis Hats various colours from 1/0.
1888Barrie When a Man's Single xiv, A man in a *tennis jacket, carrying a pail.
1901Brit. Med. Jrnl. No. 2097. 562 The country doctor called it a ‘*tennis-knee’, which might mean anything.
1882Wheelman (Boston) I. 55 A *tennis-lawn..is seldom far removed from the smoke of the town. 1899E. J. Chapman Drama Two Lives 13 The tennis-lawns and pathways all Are bright with beauty. 1981T. Thompson Edwardian Childhoods v. 130 My grandparents had a big house with a tennis lawn.
1895E. F. Benson Dodo II. xv. 314 A series of *tennis matches which he had taken part in a few years ago. 1961Listener 28 Sept. 483/2 A brilliant ‘tennis match’ between God and Satan. 1979Reese & Flint Trick 13 134, I had a date to play in a tennis match.
1900C. M. Yonge Modern Broods x. 94 Placing *tennis nets, arranging croquet hoops. 1977Listener 7 Apr. 450/1 Table tennis..smashing or retrieving a small celluloid sphere over a miniature tennis net.
1915Kipling Let. 22 Aug. in C. Carrington Rudyard Kipling (1955) xvii. 436 Don't forget the beauty of rabbit netting overhead against hand-grenades. Even *tennis netting is better than nothing.
1934P. Bottome Private Worlds iii. 26 The girl was going to be married to her *tennis partner. 1974E. Ambler Dr Frigo ii. 133 My tennis partner at the army communication centre must have been busy.
1887Kipling Plain Tales from Hills (1888) 256 There are garden-parties, and *tennis-parties and picnics. 1981Times 24 Mar. 4/4 Sir Roger Hollis..met an MI5 officer at a tennis party and was finally recommended for recruitment.
1942A. Christie Body in Library iii. 31, I do a couple of exhibition dances every evening with Raymond..he's the *tennis and dancing pro. 1977I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief iii. vi. 257 A Belgian businessman..had offered him a contract for a year as a tennis pro.
1938D. du Maurier Rebecca v. 52 The *tennis professional had complained, the manager has sent a note. 1979K. Conlon Move in Game i. iii. 32 The bronzed tennis professional, who had all the ladies of the club in a lather of longing.
1892F. M. Crawford Three Fates II. iv. 95 Her first *tennis-racket, now battered and half-unstrung. 1897A. Page Afternoon Ride 7 A..girl with a tennis-racket in her hand.
1889*Tennis shirt [see cellular a. (and n.) 2 b]. 1978Country Life 22 June 1841/1 Cotton tennis dress..navy and white tennis shirt..tennis shoes.
1887Kipling Plain Tales from Hills (1888) 222 Miss Hollis..was..five foot seven in her *tennis-shoes. 1908R. W. Chambers Younger Set viii, Yes, I've plenty of tennis-shoes. Help yourself. 1928E. Wallace Flying Squad xiii. 122 They walked noiselessly, for Mr. Tiser had obligingly supplied them with..tennis shoes. 1975Time (Canada ed.) 22 Dec. 12/3 [He] once flew out to settle a strike at the Vancouver Sun wearing tennis shoes and carrying clothes in a Loblaws shopping bag.
1963D. B. Hughes Expendable Man (1964) iv. 122 She was in *tennis shorts and a white blouse.
1932D. C. Minter Modern Needlecraft 253/1 *Tennis Socks... 3-ply fingering.
1976Washington Post 19 Apr. c15/4 (Advt.), *Tennis stringer. Experience preferred but not necessary.
1897Mrs. Rayner Type-writer Girl i, A baronet in a *tennis suit.
1892C. M. Yonge Cross Roads xii. 127 Miss Clara caught a chill while driving home after a *tennis tournament. 1976Wymondham & Attleborough Express 10 Dec. 21/6 Sue Rich..has made great progress in tennis tournaments in several parts of England this year.
1974M. Ehrlich Reincarnation (1975) xxiii. 203 She was in *tennis whites now and volleying with the pro.
Hence ˈtennisdom, the world or realm of real- or lawn-tennis players; ˈtennisy a., colloq. addicted to lawn-tennis.
1890Blackw. Mag. Feb. 256/2 As with horsy women,..tennis-y girls..become intolerable nuisances to their neighbours. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 464/2 The reputation of the Bentley brothers had gone forth into tennisdom with a very high brand on it. [Note. The introduction of some form of tennis into Florence by the French knights in 1325, and the use of the name tenes, appear not to be recorded elsewhere than in Velluti's Cronica, nor does either game or name appear to have been long retained; the name was manifestly foreign, and opposed to Italian word-formation. But its use in Florence at least 30 and perhaps 70 years before the earliest known English example, implies either that the Eng. name came from Italy, or that both had a common source. The latter is the more likely; it was French knights who introduced the game at Florence, and the Eng. teˈnetz, teˈneys, with their final stress, imply French origin. The difficulty is that the game has app. never borne any such name in Fr., where, from 1350 or earlier, it has been called la paulme, la paume. The only Fr. word akin in form is tenez (AF. tenetz), 2 pers. pl. pres. indic. and imper. of tenir ‘to hold’, also ‘to take, receive what is offered’. Hence the suggestion made by Minsheu 1617, and favoured by Skeat, Jusserand, and others, that the name originated in the Fr. imperative tenez ‘take, receive’, called by the server to his opponent. There is of course the difficulty that no mention of this call has yet been found in French, where it must have been used if thence taken into It. and Eng. But in the Colloquies of Cordier and Erasmus, the server's call is latinized as accipe and excipe, and in the Carmen de ludo pilæ reticulo of R. Fressart, Paris, 1641, ‘excipe’, ‘pilam excipe’, ‘mitto pilam in tectum, excipe’, with other uses of excipere and accipere, occur eight times in the portion printed by Julian Marshall Annals of Tennis 27–29. These Latin words witness to the use of tenez or some equivalent call in French, and favour the conclusion that this call gave rise to the 14th c. It. and Eng. name.] ▪ II. ˈtennis, v.
Also 6 -esse.
[f. prec. n.]
†1. trans. To toss to and fro like a ball at real tennis. Also absol. Obs.
1565W. Allen in Fulke Confut. Purg. (1577) 145 How fast they will tennesse one to an other in talke. 1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 652/2 These fowre garrisons issuing foorthe..will so drive him [the enemy] from one side to another, and tennis him amongest them, that he shall finde no where safe.
2.
†a. intr. To play real tennis. Hence † ˈtennising vbl. n., tennis-playing; also † ˈtenniser, a tennis-player. Obs.
a1475Myrc's Par. Pr. 11 note, Danseyng, cotteyng, bollyng, tenessyng, handball, fott ball, stoil ball & all manner other games. 1579Rice Invective agst. Vices E iv b, Bowlyng, Dicyng, Cardyng, Tennesyng, with such like actes and deedes of the fleshe. Ibid. F j, Dicers, Bowlers, Carders,..Tenessers.
b. To play lawn-tennis. Also with quasi-obj. rare.
1895Kipling in Cent. Mag. Dec. 276/1 They picnicked and they tennised. 1979United States 1980/81 (Penguin Travel Guides) 493 Whether you tennis-it at a camp or a clinic, you're guaranteed a certain number of hours of court time every day. 1983Washington Post 15 Aug. c8/6 They'd rather be golfing, or snorkeling, or tennising. |
