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courthouse

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Etymology and origin of the English word courthouse

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 1475 Catholicon Anglicum
Ultimate origins
Latin cohorsProto-Germanic *hūsą
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English court
French court
English courthouse
From the same root
English courtyard ← court

Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈkɔɹt.haʊs/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English court + house,[2][3][4][5] already in late Middle English.[5][4] The first part is borrowed from Old French cort, from Latin cohors (“courtyard, retinue”);[6] the second goes back to Old English hūs and Proto-Germanic *hūsą.[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A building in which a court of law is held: about 1475, in the Catholicon Anglicum.[2] Etymonline also dates it to the late 15th century,[3] and Dictionary.com to 1425–75.[5]

Semantic evolution

In North America the courthouse also came to be the main building of a county, holding its administrative offices and often the county jail.[2][4] From 1808, first in Virginia, the word was used in place names for a town that is a county seat, and in Virginia and the Upper South courthouse could mean the county seat itself.[2][3][4] In southern English dialect it was, rarely, the name of a manor house, recorded from 1857.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1475 – a building in which a court of law is held.[2]
  • 1808 – in American place names, a town that is a county seat (first in Virginia).[2]
  • 1857 – in southern England, the name of a manor house (rare).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A building in which courts of law are held: The trial was moved to the new courthouse.[7][4][2]
  2. (US) The main building of a county, housing its offices and often its jail.[4][2]
  3. (US, chiefly Virginia) A county seat; used in place names.[4][2][3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Courthouse.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/courthouse. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·