Tennis

According to most sources, the name 'tennis' originates in the French word tenez, which was used by early players to warn their opponents when they were about to serve. As well as its standard translation of 'hold', tenez can also be translated as 'take', 'receive', or even 'take this'.

The alternative theory originates in the belief that a game similar to tennis was played in ancient Egypt. The ancient town of Tennis (also known as Tinnis) is, or was, on an island in Lake Manzala – a lagoon in the Nile delta, near where the Suez Canal now joins the Mediterranean Sea. Proponents of this theory also claim that the word 'racquet' derives from the Arabic word rahat, which means the palm of the hand.

There is, however, no other evidence that the game was played before AD 1000. The majority of historians believe that the game was first played in the eleventh or twelfth century by French monks, who started playing a primitive handball against their monastery walls, or over a rope strung across a courtyard. The game became known as jeu de paume, which means 'game of (the) palm.' This does admittedly tie in quite neatly with the rahat theory.