billiards

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪlɪədz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪl.jɚdz/
• Rhymes: -ɪlɪədz, -ɪljə(ɹ)dz
• Hyphenation: bil‧liards

From French billard, originally referring to the wooden cue stick, diminutive of Old French bille (“log, tree trunk”), from Vulgar Latin *bilia, probably of Gaulish origin (compare Old Irish bile (“large tree, tree trunk”)), from Proto-Celtic *belyos (“tree”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰolh₃yos (“leaf”), from *bʰleh₃- (“blossom, flower”).

billiards (uncountable)

1. (games, British) A two-player cue sport played with two cue balls and one red ball, on a snooker sized table.

   Synonym: English billiards

2. (games, US) Any of various games played on a tabletop, usually with several balls, one or more of which is hit by a cue.

• See also Thesaurus:cue sport

• → Irish: billéardaí
• → Welsh: biliards

• pool
• snooker

billiards

1. plural of billiard