The term "table-tennis" is a transparent 20th-century English compound that precisely describes the sport's nature. The first element, "table," specifies the unique playing surface, a flat, bounded area, distinguishing it from the court used in its parent sport. The second element, "tennis," is borrowed directly from the older racket game, indicating the shared fundamental actions of hitting a ball back and forth. The compound logic is purely descriptive, combining the object ("table") with the activity ("tennis") to name a modern indoor adaptation of lawn tennis.

Structure: table (surface) + tennis (sport) - table: From Old English tabule, from Latin tabula meaning "a board, plank, flat piece". In this compound, it denotes the specific playing surface. - tennis: From Anglo-French tenetz, an imperative form of Old French tenir ("to hold, receive"), likely called by the server. It refers to the racket sport.