The game in which "love" is a score is tennis. In tennis scoring, "love" means a score of zero points. For example, if a player has no points, the score is called "love," as in "15-love" (15 to 0) or "love-all" (0-0 at the start of a game)
. The origin of the term "love" in tennis is debated, with two main theories:
- It may come from the French word l'œuf (meaning "egg"), symbolizing zero because of its shape
- More popularly, it is thought to derive from the phrase "for the love of the game," meaning playing without any stakes or score, purely for enjoyment
Thus, "love" is uniquely used in tennis to denote zero in the scoring system.
