Raquet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An implement with a handled frame and a tightly stretched net used to hit a ball or shuttlecock in sports such as tennis or badminton
2. A sporting tool consisting of a grip and a hoop-like frame with woven strings designed to strike objects like balls or birdies during games
3. Equipment featuring a handle and a meshed surface employed in athletic activities for beating a ball or shuttlecock back and forth

Etymology: "Raquet" is a misspelling of "racquet", and the correct form is the one that carries the history. English borrowed the word from French "raquette", a term for the strung bat used in games like tennis. The French word itself is traced to Arabic and Italian sources, but those links are not confirmed here, so the trail stops at French for this account. The spelling is the clue to the word's journey. The French form "raquette" ends in a suffix that makes a small object, and English adopted the word with its French shape intact before settling into the spelling "racquet". The double "c" and the final "t" are part of that inherited French pattern, which is why the common misspelling "raquet" looks so natural to English speakers who have never seen the French original.

Synonyms: racket, bat, paddle, racquet, club