Bocce (/bɒtʃi/; Italian pronunciation: [bɔttʃe]), sometimes anglicized as bocci or boccie,[1][2][3][4][5] is a ball sport belonging to the boules sport family, closely related to bowls and pétanque with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. Developed into its present form in Italy (where it is called bocce, the plural of the Italian word boccia which means "bowl"),[6] it
is played around Europe and also in overseas areas that have received Italian migrants, including Australia, North America, and South America (where it is known as bochas; bolas criollas in Venezuela, bocha (the sport) in Brazil), initially among the migrants themselves but slowly becoming more popular with their descendants and the wider community. The sport is also very popular on the eastern side of the Adriatic, especially in Croatia, Montenegro and southern Bosnia and Hercegovina, where the sport is known in Serbo-Croatian as boćanje ("playing boće") or balote (colloquially also bućanje ).[7][8][9] In Slovenia the sport is known as balinanje[10] or colloquially "playing boče" or bale (from Italian "bocce" or "p***e", meaning "balls").[11] In Southern France the sport is also popular and known as Boule Lyonnaise.
