Standard Lemma guide

billiard

noun · num · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbɪlɪəd/
  • /ˈbɪl.i.ə(ɹ)d/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈbɪl.i.ɑː(ɹ)d/
  • CMU ARPABET: B IH1 L Y ER0 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A shot in billiards or snooker in which the cue ball strikes two other balls; a carom.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Pertaining to the game of billiards.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive

Examples

  • a billiard table; a billiard ball

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A dynamical system in which a particle alternates between motion in a straight line and specular reflections from a boundary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

num

Meaning 4

1015, a thousand billion (long scale) or a million milliard.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, rare

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

of or relating to billiards

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a billiard ball
  • a billiard cue
  • a billiard table

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From French billard with the insertion of the second i and orthographic representation of the French palatalized /j/ sound, 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”).

From French billiard, equivalent to bi- (“two”) + -illiard.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: kara — a shot in billiards or snooker
  • French: carambole — a shot in billiards or snooker
  • Finnish: biljardi — a million milliards — see also quadrillion
  • French: billiard — a million milliards — see also quadrillion
  • German: Billiarde — a million milliards — see also quadrillion
  • Spanish: billardo — a million milliards — see also quadrillion