Marbles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small, usually glass spheres often used in children's games or decorative contexts
2. Tiny round objects, often made of glass or clay, used in various children's games ; a person's mental soundness or clarity of thought
3. Small balls typically played with by children as part of games ; the condition of being mentally well or rational

Etymology: The game's name is a plural, and the singular "marble" is the stone it was first made from. The game's pieces were originally carved from real marble, though the glass versions most people picture today came later. The stone itself traces back to the Ancient Greek "mármaros," which may be related to "marmáreos," meaning "gleaming," a fitting nod to how polished marble catches the light. The word reached English by a roundabout route. Old English already had a form, "marma," borrowed from Latin, but it was the French-influenced "marbre," arriving from Old French and Anglo-Norman, that displaced it and gave Middle English its "marble." Only in the modern era did the small spheres of glass take over the name.

Synonyms: glass balls, game pieces, spheres, tokens, billiard balls