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.