kegler

Some historians trace the game of bowling back to the Stone Age (that information may conjure up images of Fred Flintstone on the lanes), but it was a medieval version of the game that gave us the word kegler. In medieval Germany, the game was practiced as a test of religious faith and purity. The "Kegel" (bowling pin) represented a heathen, and those who could topple it with a round stone proved that they were free of sin. "Kegel" gave English the nouns "kegling" (meaning "bowling") and "kegler," by way of the German verb kegeln ("to bowl"). Nowadays, both words tend to be used humorously by writers referring to the modern game.