court

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /kɔːt/, US /kɔːrt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English curt, borrowed from Anglo-Norman curt, borrowed from Old French cort (“king's court, princely residence”),^[2][3][4] from Latin cōrtem, the accusative of cōrs, a contracted form of cohors (“enclosure, yard; company, retinue”).^[2][3][5] Cohors is formed from co- (“together”) and a stem hort- related to hortus (“garden”),^[2][3][6] from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to grasp, enclose”).^[2][7] It is a doublet of cohort,^[3][5] and is related to yard and garden.^[5][8] The verb was formed on the noun after Old Italian corteare and courtoyer.^[4][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The residence or household of a prince: probably before 1200,^[3] and “a formal assembly held by a sovereign” in the late 12th century.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

From the physical yard came “the palace of a sovereign” (about 1200), “an enclosed space by a building” (early 14th century),^[2] the playing area of a ball game, first for tennis (1519),^[11][12] and a short street closed on three sides (1680s).^[2][11] From the sovereign's assembly came the legal sense “a tribunal” and “the room where justice is done”, both about 1300, since early justice was overseen by the sovereign in person.^[2] The homage paid at court gave pay court to, first in Spenser's Faerie Queene (1589).^[3] The verb first meant “to live at court” (1515)^[11][3] and “to act the courtier” (1553),^[11] then “to seek to win” (1571), “to woo” (1580) and “to pay court to” (1590).^[3][11] Merriam-Webster dates the verb 1567.^[13] Courtship is from 1588^[3] and courtroom from 1677.^[3] A court card was originally a coat card, one showing a figure in a coat.^[10]

Timeline

• before 1200 – a princely household.^[3]
• c. 1200 – a sovereign's palace.^[2]
• c. 1300 – a court of justice.^[2]
• 1515 – verb, to live at court.^[11][3]
• 1519 – a tennis court.^[11]
• 1580 – to woo.^[3][11]
• 1588 – courtship.^[3]
• 1589 – pay court to (Spenser).^[3]
• 1677 – courtroom.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An open space surrounded by walls or buildings; a courtyard.
2. A short street closed at one end.
3. The residence and household of a sovereign, or the sovereign with his or her council.
4. A tribunal that hears legal cases, or the room where it sits.
5. A marked-out area for games such as tennis or basketball.
6. Attention paid to win favour: pay court to.

Verb

1. To try to win the love of; to woo.
2. To try to gain the favour of by attention or flattery.
3. To seek, or to behave so as to invite: court disaster.

Word family

• backcourt
• courtside
• crosscourt
• downcourt
• forecourt
• frontcourt
• outcourt
• courthouse

Related words

• courtship
• cohort
• yard
• garden
• courteous
• courtesy
• curtain
• horticulture

Usage notes

A second, obsolete court, of unknown origin, was a kind of cart for stones and bricks, used from 1388 to 1666.^[4][12]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
13. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster