a game, popular in the 17th century, in which a ball of boxwood was struck with a mallet in an attempt to drive it through a raised iron ring at the end of a playing alley.
2.
a playing alley on which this game was played.
Origin: 1560–70; < MF pallemaille < It pallamaglio, equiv. to palla ball (< Langobardic) + magliomallet(< L malleus). See ball1, mall, mell
Pall Mall (pāl' māl', pěl' měl') A fashionable street in London, England, noted as the site of St. James's Palace and many private clubs. It derives its name from the game pall-mall, which was played on the grounds in front of the palace in the 17th century.
[pal mal, pel mel] 
