Etymologically
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court

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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
  • 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