(la) Pétanque
​From pieds tanqués which means “feet tied together” from the Provençal ped tanco 

(le) Rond
The throwing circle, traced on the ground

(une) Mène
​An end, the part of a complete game played from each new throwing circle; a match is made up of as many ends as necessary to arrive at thirteen points

Pointer
“To Point,” to roll or lob a boule, the object being to stop its movement near to the cochonnet

(un) Pointeur
The pointer, a player who specializes in pointing or placing his boules as close as possible to the cochonnet

(un) Milieu
The middle, an all rounder in a team who can point or shoot equally well

(l’) Arbitre
The umpire

(le) Couloir
The shape formed by a group of spectators standing round a game in progress; the word literally means corridor

Tête-à-Tête:
One player playing against another; a singles game, 3 boules per player

Doublette
​Game composed of 2 players per team, with 3 boules per player

Triplette
Game composed of 3 players per team, with 2 boules per player

Quadrette
Game composed of 4 players per team with 2 boules per player; not official per FPUSA

(le) But
The target ball made from wood, smaller than a boule, it is thrown first; it will be necessary to get close to it with your boules; other terms: bouchon, cochonnet, gari, le petit

(le) Cochonnet
The target ball; the word literally means piglet

(le) Gari
Another name for the cochon

(le) Kiki
Another name for the cochon

(le) Pichoun
Another name for the cochon

(le) Petit
​Another name for the cochon; sometimes also called le petit ministre—the little minister

​Faire Fanny
“To Fanny,” to win a match with the score of 13-0; some competitions award a consolation prize to the first team to be fannied

Bon Homme
A compliment given to a particularly good player

(un) Bras d’or
Literally a golden arm; a compliment given to a good thrower

(les) Boules cloutées
The old kind of boules which were made by hammering large-headed nails into boxwood cores

(le) (les) Striage, Stries
The rings, stripes or design cut into the surface of boules to make them grip the ground better

(les) Boules Lisses
Boules that have no rings or stripes cut into their surface; many shooters favor this kind of perfectly smooth boule for an easy release

(les) Boules Quadrillées
Boules that have a large number of stripes or rings cut into their surface;often favored by pointers, they are nicknamed pineapples

(les) Boules Farcies
Boules that have been tampered with by the injection of either mercury, sand, or heavy oil, which moves their weight off center and makes them more accurate when pointing; fortunately they are very rare—and, of course, illegal

(un) Porte-Boules
A carrier for a set of boules

(un) Gratton 
A stone or bump on the piste which deflects an otherwise well thrown or rolled boule

Boulodrome
An indoor place for playing pétanque; composed of 4, 8 or more courts

(le) Terrain
The piste, the playing area

(les) Lignes Tracées
Pistes which are marked out with lines—often of string

(la) Piste 
That part of the whole terrain on which the game is to be played

(la) Graphique
The desk used by the organizers during a competition

(les) Kiply
A measuring tape device, which also sometimes has a built in score recorder

Pile (ou face)
The French for heads (or tails); the person tossing the coin often calls either “pile” or “face” himself before throwing it in the air and catching it on the back of his hand; sometimes, if he is being particularly polite, he will give the other side the call and sometimes he will let the coin fall to the ground; however, the important point is that the French do not usually wait until the coin is in the air for a call