Mall Comes From a Game Played With Mallets
A mall is a large shopping centre. The word began as the name of a lawn game and the alley it needed.
A mall is a large enclosed shopping centre, or a sheltered walk. The word comes from *pall-mall*, a seventeenth-century game in which a ball was driven through a raised ring with a mallet along a long alley. When the game fell out of fashion the alleys became fashionable promenades, and London's Pall Mall and The Mall are both former playing grounds. The shopping sense is American, from the 1960s, applied to a covered pedestrian walk lined with shops.
- A shopping centre. *A shopping mall.*
- A sheltered walk. *The Mall.*
- Pall-mall — the original game. *Pall-mall.*
- Mallet — the same root. *A mallet.*
- Italian — *pallamaglio*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | mall | A mall. |
| Plural | malls | Malls. |
| Source | pall-mall | Pall-mall. |
| Related | mallet | A mallet. |
| Italian | palla | A ball. |
- They met at the mall.Shopping.
- The Mall runs to the palace.London.
- It was a game with mallets.History.
Words from obsolete games
- Mall — from pall-mall, played with mallet and ball
- Bandy — from a hockey-like game, now meaning to exchange words
- Hazard — from a dice game, now meaning risk
- Ninepins — gave the phrase to go down like ninepins
- Jeopardy — from a term for an evenly balanced game
From *pall-mall*, from Italian *pallamaglio*, from *palla*, a ball, and *maglio*, a mallet.
Where does mall come from?
From pall-mall, a game played with a mallet and ball along a long alley. The alleys became promenades and the name stayed.
Is London's Pall Mall named after the game?
Yes. Both Pall Mall and The Mall were alleys where the game was played in the seventeenth century.