Croquet on croquet, was an event at the 1904 Summer Olympics. As with similar words with a French derivation, the final 't' is silent. British pronunciation puts the accent on the first syllable, American on the second: versus . Association croquet is the name of an advanced game of croquet, played at international level. It involves four balls teamed in pairs, with both balls going through every hoop for one pair to win. The game's distinguishing feature is the "croquet" shot: when certain balls hit other balls, extra shots are allowed. The six hoops are arranged three at each end of
Croquet were popular in England by the early 17th century. Some other early modern sources refer to pall-mall being played over a large distance (as in golf); however, an image in Strutt's 1801 book shows a croquet-like ground billiards game (balls on ground, hoop, bats and peg) being played over a , garden-sized distance. The image's caption describes the game as "a curious ancient pastime", confirming that croquet games were not new in early nineteenth century England. In Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary, his definition of "pall-mall" clearly describes a game with similarities to modern croquet: "A play in which the ball