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Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise[1][2] or a set geographic region.[citation needed] The term, which is chiefly North American,[2] derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls",[3][4][5] and was used to describe sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an institution or area. The term dates to the 1840s.[4][5] It is contrasted with extramural, varsity or intercollegiate sports, which are played between teams from different educational institutions.[6] The word intermural, which also correctly means "between institutions",[7] is a common error for "intramural".[8]