A corrupt form of the French billard. “Autrefois, le bâton
avec lequel on poussait les billes”; then “la table verte sur
laquelle on joue”; and, lastly, the “game itself.”
Similar plural forms are the games called bowls, cards, dominoes,
draughts, marbles, quoits, skittles, tops, etc.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
