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courtyard

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Etymology and origin of the English word courtyard

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1552 Huloet, Abcedarium Anglico Latinum
Ultimate origins
Anglo-Norman curtOld English ġeard
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English court
French court
English courtyard
From the same root
English courthouse ← court

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈkɔːt.jɑːd/[1]
  • US: /ˈkɔɹt.jɑɹd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English court + yard.[2][3][4] The OED, which revised the entry in 2023, describes it as a compound formed within English.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An unroofed, usually four-sided area enclosed by walls or buildings: 1552, in R. Huloet's Abcedarium Anglico Latinum.[2][5] Etymonline gives the 1550s and the sense "enclosure around or beside a house",[3] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1545–55.[4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to the first record: an open space shut in by walls, especially beside or within a large house, castle or palace.[2][6][7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also records a narrower modern use for a service area beside an apartment building, hotel or commercial building.[6]

Timeline

  • 1552 – an open area enclosed by walls or buildings.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An open space, without a roof, surrounded wholly or partly by walls or buildings, especially in a castle or large house: They ate lunch in the shaded courtyard of the inn.[8][9][2]
  2. A service area next to an apartment building, hotel or commercial building.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Courtyard.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/courtyard. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·