Jeu de paume

This article is about the game. For the French modern art gallery, see Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume.
Jeu de paume in the 17th century.

Jeu de paume (UK: /ˌʒɜː də ˈpoʊm/,[1] French: [ʒø d(ə) pom]; originally spelled jeu de paulme; lit. 'palm game'), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) courte paume, is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, and so "game of the hand", though these were eventually introduced. It is a former Olympic sport, and has the oldest ongoing annual world championship in sport, first established over 250 years ago. The term also refers to the court on which the game is played[2] and its building, which in the 17th century was sometimes converted into a theatre.[3]

  1. ^ "jeu de paume". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2022-08-27.
  2. ^ The Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary, 2007, p. 469. ISBN 9780198614227.
  3. ^ W. L. Wiley, The Early Public Theatre in France, 1960, pp. 158–170.