noun · 4 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
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbɪlɪədz/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈbɪl.jɚdz/
rhymes with -ɪlɪədz
rhymes with -ɪljə(ɹ)dz
CMU ARPABET:B IH1 L Y ER0 D Z
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A two-player cue sport played with two cue balls and one red ball, on a snooker sized table.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, uncountable
Topics: games
Examples
He was playing billiards in the casino.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: English billiards
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any of various games played on a tabletop, usually with several balls, one or more of which is hit by a cue.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, uncountable
Topics: games
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
plural of billiard
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
any of several games played on rectangular cloth-covered table (with cushioned edges) in which long tapering cue sticks are used to propel ivory (or composition) balls
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: table game
History
Etymology
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”).
Across languages
Translations
69 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
bilardo
— any cue sport
Arabic:
بِلْيَارْدُو
(bilyārdū)
— any cue sport
Armenian:
բիլիարդ
(biliard)
— any cue sport
Azerbaijani:
bilyard
— any cue sport
Belarusian:
білья́рд
(bilʹjárd)
— any cue sport
Bulgarian:
биля́рд
(biljárd)
— any cue sport
Catalan:
billar
— any cue sport
Chinese:
檯球 /台球
(táiqiú)
— any cue sport
Chinese:
桌球
(zhuōqiú)
— any cue sport
Chinese:
撞球
(zhuàngqiú)
— any cue sport
Chinese:
彈子 /弹子
— any cue sport
Chinese Cantonese:
檯波 /台波
(toi2 bo1)
— any cue sport
