corte

corte¹ cut

Pronunciation

• /ˈkoɾte/, [ˈkoɾ.t̪e]^[1]

Forms

corte m (plural cortes)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a cut is a noun from Spanish cortar, as the Academy has said since Autoridades.^[2][3][4][5] That verb continues Latin curtāre (“to shorten, cut off”), from curtus (“mutilated, cut short”).^[5][6][7] De Vaan derives the adjective from Proto-Indo-European *kr-to- (“cut off”), related to Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut off, shave”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the masculine noun to 1565.^[5] DICCA-XV reports an earlier record of 1423 from the CORDE.^[7] Autoridades gives the edge of a sword or knife as its first sense, quoting Saavedra Fajardo on the two equal edges of a sword.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades records the edge, the cut made by a blade and the felling of trees.^[2] By 1884 the Academy added the cutting of a quill pen, the tailor's art of cutting out a garment, and the figurative sense of a way to settle a dispute.^[3] Modern senses include the track of a recording, a break for advertising and a cut-off mark in a selection process.^[9] Moliner adds a person's manner or the style of a thing.^[10] In parts of the Caribbean and Latin America corte is the harvest of a crop such as coffee or sugar cane.^[11]

Timeline

• 1565 – first record of the masculine noun, according to Corominas.^[5]
• 1729 – Autoridades defines the edge of a blade and the cut, deriving the noun from cortar.^[2]
• 1884 – the Academy records the tailor's cutting and the figurative “settlement of a dispute”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cut: the act or effect of cutting.^[9][1]
2. The edge of a cutting tool.^[9][2]
3. A wound made by a cutting instrument: Me hice un corte en el dedo.^[9][1]
4. A haircut, in corte de pelo.^[1]
5. The art of cutting out the pieces of a garment or shoe; the length of cloth needed for a garment.^[9][10]
6. The cut surface of a piece of meat or sausage; the edge of a book's pages.^[9]
7. A track of a record or recording; a break in a broadcast for advertising.^[9]
8. The cut-off level separating those who pass to the next stage of a contest or selection.^[9]
9. A means of settling a disagreement.^[9]
10. Style, character: un discurso de corte clásico.^[10][1]
11. (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Chile) harvest, reaping.^[11]

corte² court

Pronunciation

• /ˈkoɾte/, [ˈkoɾ.t̪e]^[1]

Forms

corte f (plural cortes)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a royal court is inherited from Old Spanish cort, inherited from Vulgar Latin cors (“enclosure, yard”), classical cohors (“enclosure; division of a camp; retinue”).^{[12][13][9][1]} Corominas traces the sense of a ruler's retinue to the Latin sense of the escort of a provincial magistrate.^[12][13] In early charters the word often appears as Medieval Latin curte, a purely graphic hypercorrection.^[12] The same Latin word is Portuguese corte, Galician corte, Catalan cort, Occitan cort, Old French cort and Italian corte.^[14][15][1] The learned doublet is cohorte, used from 1545 of the Roman cohorts.^[12]

De Vaan analyses the Latin word as *kom with a ti-derivative of a root that may be Proto-Indo-European *ǵher- (“to take, grab”);^[8][1] Wiktionary relates the second part to Latin hortus (“enclosure, garden”).^[8][1][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) has the form cort: dentro en mi cort tuerto me tovo grand “within my own court he did me great wrong”.^[16][12] The form corte appears in a charter of 1206.^[12] At the Cortes of Benavente in 1202 the word already names the king's assembly with his vassals.^[16]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's prose corte is the king's retinue and household, his palace, the assembly of representatives of the towns (in the plural, cortes), and also a stable where cattle spend the night.^[17] The rural sense “yard, stable” is rare in Castilian but is still Catalan, Asturian and Galician;^[18] Covarrubias records schoolboys asking leave to “go to the corte”, the yard, to relieve themselves.^[12][18] Covarrubias also quotes the Partidas, which derive the courtly sense from Latin cohors, “a gathering of companies”.^[18]

The Academy's 1884 dictionary lists the city where the sovereign lives, the royal household and retinue, the court of chancery and the yard or stable.^[3] In most of Spanish America corte is now a court of law, as in Corte Suprema.^[11][1] Cortés, cortesía and cortesano grew out of the manners learned at court.^[12][13]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has the form cort.^[16][13]
• 1202 – the Cortes de Benavente use Corte for the king's assembly.^[16]
• 1206 – the form corte in a charter.^[12]
• 1220–1250 – cortés and cortesía appear in Berceo.^[13][12]
• 1270–1284 – Alfonso X's chronicle calls the assembly of the realm cortes.^[17]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija translates corte de rey o papa o emperador as Latin curia.^[19]
• 1528 – first record in the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[20]
• 1545 – the learned doublet cohorte appears.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin cohors.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The town where the sovereign of a monarchy usually lives.^[9]
2. The royal household and retinue; the entourage of a famous or important person.^[9]
3. A yard or stable where livestock are kept at night; a sheepfold.^[9][17]
4. (Latin America) A court of justice.^[9][11][1]
5. (in the plural) In Spain, the parliament, the chamber or chambers that hold legislative power; historically, the assembly of the estates summoned by the king.^[9][12]

Word family

• cortés
• cortesía
• descortés