Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1902, American English, originally in a Cuban context, from Basque, from jai "celebration" + alai "merry."
Wiktionary
n. a Basque ball game in which the players propel the ball using a long basket attached to the wrist
WordNet
n. a Basque or Spanish game played in a court with a ball and a wickerwork racket [syn: pelota]
Wikipedia
Jai alai (; Basque: ) is a sport involving a ball bounced off a walled space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held device ( cesta). It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where the sport is played. The game is called "zesta-punta" (basket tip) in Basque.
The Basque Government promotes jai alai as "the fastest sport in the world" because of the ball speed. The sport once held the world record for ball speed with a 125–140 g ball covered with goatskin that traveled at , performed by José Ramón Areitio at the Newport Rhode Island Jai Alai, until it was broken by Canadian 5-time long drive champion Jason Zuback on a 2007 episode of Sport Science with a golf ball speed of .
Usage examples of "jai alai".
He shrugged, returned to his room, activated the holovision again, and began eating his salad while watching a replay of a jai alai match from four months ago.
Over the mantle was a painting of men playing a game Austin recognized as jai alai.
Her roommate played jai alai in the intramural league, but the dangerous game terrified Janice.
The man's only known 'credential' was that he had once played jai alai in Las Vegas.