Sudden Death

Treasury of the Castilian or Spanish Language

Ball, or Pelota. Familiar object, with which one plays. There are many different balls; but the most common is stuffed with hair, pelo, from which it gets its name. It is round in shape and divided into quarters. One plays with it in the trinque, a kind of court, and that is why the small ball struck with a stringed racket is called a trigonal.

SEBASTIÁN DE COVARRUBIAS, 1611