Basketball

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl/

Definitions

1. A sport involving two teams competing to score points by successfully throwing a ball into an elevated hoop at each end of a rectangular court
2. A competitive game where players dribble, pass, and take shots at a goal to outscore the opposing team while playing on a defined court area
3. A team-based sport where participants engage in scoring by shooting a ball through a raised hoop while adhering to specific court regulations and rules

Etymology: The game was named for its equipment: a peach basket. In 1891, James Naismith, a physical education instructor at the YMCA training school in Springfield, Massachusetts, invented the sport as an indoor winter activity for his students. He nailed two peach baskets to the balcony rail at either end of the gymnasium, and the goals were literally baskets, with the ball thrown into them. Lacking a ladder, the players had to retrieve the ball by hand after each score, which is why the original goals had no bottoms. The word itself is a plain compound of "basket" and "ball," with no special coinage behind it. "Basket" traces back through Middle English to Anglo-Norman "bascat" and Late Latin "bascauda," a word of Celtic origin, while "ball" descends from Old English "beall" and Proto-Germanic "balluz." Combined, the two words named a game about throwing a ball into a basket.

Synonyms: hoops, b-ball