Etymologically
Log in

curtis

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word curtis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
538/539–594 AD, Gregory of Tours
Ultimate origin
Latin cohors
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cohors
Italian corte
Latin curtis
French cour

Forms

curtis f (genitive curtis); third declension[1] Medieval texts also have cortis, curs, cors, curta, corta and curtus.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin cohors (“enclosure, yard; company”), through its contracted form cors, genitive ⟨cortis⟩.[1][2][3][4] Etymonline also suggests an association with cūria.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first author is Gregory of Tours,[4] and the DMLBS has it in English charters from 689 for an enclosure or homestead.[2]

Semantic evolution

In early medieval Latin it meant a fenced yard or garden, then the enclosed homestead with its house, yard and buildings, the centre of a domain (the manor), the estate itself, a village and a tenant's holding.[1] An enclosure round a church, a churchyard, was also so called.[1] A royal or princely one was a palace, and the word then passed to the king's court and household, his followers, his treasury and his authority, and to a lord's court sitting as a tribunal.[1][2] In Anglo-Saxon England it rendered Old English tūn.[2]

It is frequent in the barbarian law codes, capitularies and charters,[4] and through Old French cort it gave English court (late 12th century).[5]

Timeline

  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses it.[4]
  • 689 – A Kentish charter speaks of land belonging to the curtis of Lyminge.[2]
  • 798 – Alcuin writes of “our curtes”, the estates.[2]
  • late 12th century – English court is recorded, from Old French.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A fenced yard or garden; a farmyard.[1][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A homestead, the house with its enclosure.[1][2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The centre of an estate, a manor; an estate, domain; a village.[1][2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A tenant's holding.[1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A churchyard.[1]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A palace or royal residence; the king's court and household.[1]
  7. (Medieval Latin, law) A lord's court acting as a tribunal; a manorial court.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Curtis.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/curtis. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·