Scoreboard

How to spell scoreboard

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce scoreboard

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does scoreboard mean?

1. nounA large board on which the score in a game or contest is displayed.

Scoreboard in a sentence

• The scoreboard above the pitch showed the home side leading by two goals.

• A technical fault left the scoreboard frozen at half-time.

Where does scoreboard come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This is a transparent English compound built from two older words. 'Score' comes from the Old Norse skor, meaning a notch or a cut, because tallies were once kept by carving marks into a stick or a tally; the sense widened to mean a running count of points, and even a set of twenty (a 'score') because counting was grouped in notches. 'Board' descends from the Old English bord, a plank or flat slab of wood, which is also the source of the board in 'blackboard' and 'cupboard'. Joined together in the nineteenth century with the rise of organised spectator sport, 'scoreboard' simply names the board on which the score is shown. Because both halves are familiar everyday words, the spelling holds no real surprise once you see it as score plus board.

How the word is built

• score (running tally of points, from Old Norse skor: a notch or mark)
• board (a flat surface for display)