tennis
ten·nis/ˈtɛnɪs/noun, verb
tennis is spelled T-E-N-N-I-S: 6 letters and 2 syllables (ten·nis). It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tennis means “A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tennis is tennises.
How many letters and syllables are in tennis?
| Letters | 6: T-E-N-N-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ten·nis |
| In writing | 22 times per million words; the 3,939th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tennis?
Tennis appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tennis?
- US /ˈtɛnɪs/
- Australia /ˈtenɪs/
Tennis has 2 syllables, split ten·nis in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tennis.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tennis
- tennises plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tennising participle, present
- tennised participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tennis mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets.
- 2
datedA match in this sport.
- 3
obsoleteAn earlier game in which a ball is driven to and fro, or kept in motion by striking it with a racquet or with the open hand.
verb
- 1
datedTo play tennis.
- 2
To drive backward and forward like a tennis ball.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tennis in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense sport played by two or four players with strung racquets:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tennis come from?
From Middle English tennys, teneys, tenis, from Old French tenez (second-person plural imperative of tenir (“to hold”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).