FIVES

a ball game played by two or four players in a court enclosed on three or four sides, the hard ball being struck with the hand usually protected by a glove. The derivation of the word fives is doubtful. It may be from an old game called Longue Paume, in which five on a side played, or from allusion to the five fingers of the hand or from the fact that winners formerly had to make five points. The game, played largely in Great Britain in public schools, has three forms that vary from each other in the physical conformation of the court and in slightly different playing rules: Eton fives, Rugby fives, and Winchester fives.