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In tennis, love represents a score of zero. This use has existed since the late 1800s, and it's not certain how it came to be. The most likely theory is that those with zero points were still playing for the "love of the game" despite their losing score.
While the origin of the term “love” in tennis remains a bit of a mystery, there are two commonly shared ideas. The first, and less likely, would be that the term love is an adaptation of the French word l’oeuf, which translates to egg or the shape of a 0.
Origin of Love in the Scoring System. The exact origin of the expression “Love” is still unknown today. Altogether there are three theories by which the expression could have originated. 1. Love of the Game. According to the first theory, the term comes from the expression “to play for love”.
The origins of 'love' as a score lie in the figure zero’s resemblance to an egg. In sport, it’s common to refer to a nil or nought score as a duck or goose egg, and the French word for...
11 sty 2018 · For the unfamiliar, tennis starts with both players at zero, called love: “Love-all.” One person scores: 15 to love. The server’s score is said first, the receiver’s second.
3 lis 2023 · According to tennis historian Heiner Gillmeister, one of the earliest recorded uses comes from the 1862 novel "The Notting Hill Mystery" which references a tennis score of "fifteen love" – evidence that the term was already common vernacular by then. Many experts believe "love" developed as a derivative of the French word "l‘oeuf" – meaning egg.
10 cze 2023 · The term “love” in tennis originates from the French word “l’oeuf,” meaning “egg.”. The association is derived from the similarity in shape between an egg and the numeral 0. The word was later anglicized to “love” by English speakers, maintaining its meaning as a zero score.
