cour French · revision 17206

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont (cort)|origins=la cohors}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kuʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cour''' ''f'' (plural cours)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''cort'', ''curt'' (about 980), ''court'', ''cour'' from the 14th–15th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|cort]], [[inh|la-lat|curtis|t=farmyard; manor; royal residence]], recorded from the 6th century, from [[la|cohors|t=enclosure, yard; division of a camp, cohort]] (see [[cohorte]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 849b) In Medieval Latin “curtis” already had most of the French senses: a farmyard, an enclosed holding, a royal residence, the king's household and the court of a prince sitting as a tribunal.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The modern spelling without ⟨t⟩ is probably due to [[la-med|curia]], used in similar senses.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré pointed out that the ⟨t⟩ of the old form and of [[courtois]] shows that the word does not come from “curia”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The Petit Robert relates “cohors” to [[m|la|hortus|t=garden]] and an Indo-European root “*gher-” “to enclose”, the source too of [[frk|*gardo]] and of [[en|garden]].^(Petit Robert 2007) Cognate with [[it|corte]], [[es|corte]], [[oc|cort]], [[ca|cort]] and [[ro|curte]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Passion'' of Clermont (second half of the 10th century) ''cort'' is an open space surrounded by walls and buildings; the ''Vie de saint Léger'' of the same period uses ''curt'' for the residence of a ruler.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' the ''curt'' is the ruler's entourage: ''Meillur vassal n'aveit en la curt nul''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) About 1130 it was the assembly of vassals the king called together, and, from the early 12th century a seat of justice; the ''cour le roi'' was the first form of the Parlement, and ''cour'' remained the name of the higher courts (''cours souveraines'', 1549, ''Cour de cassation'', 1804).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''Faire la court a quelqu'un'' “to seek someone's favour” is in Robert Estienne (1539), and of a woman it meant to woo her from the 1630s (Corneille).^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ The old rural sense, a farm or estate, survives in place names in ''-court'', such as Harcourt.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The ''cour des Miracles'' (1616) was the beggars' quarter of Paris, where infirmities vanished as if by miracle.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) On the stage ''côté cour'' is opposed to ''côté jardin''.^(DHLF 1992) The old form ''court'' passed into English as ''court'' and came back as the tennis ''court''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Cort'', a courtyard, ''curt'', a ruler's residence.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – The ruler's entourage, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * Early 12th century – A court of justice.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – ''Basse-cour''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1352 – The form ''cour''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1539 – ''Faire la court a quelqu'ung''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1564 – ''Avant-cour''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1616 – ''Cour des Miracles''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1634 – ''Faire la cour'' to a woman, Corneille.^(BHVF)

+ * 1804 – ''Cour de cassation''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|courtyard]], yard: an open space enclosed by walls or buildings: ''cour d'honneur'', ''cour de récréation'', a [[m|en|playground]], ''côté cour'', stage right.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(Quebec)'' A backyard.^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|court]] of a sovereign: his residence and entourage: ''la cour de Louis XIV''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(law)'' A court of justice, especially a higher court; its judges: ''cour d'appel'', ''cour d'assises'', ''Messieurs, la cour !''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Faire la cour à'': to court, woo.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A group of admirers, a following: ''une cour d'admirateurs''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[courette]]

+ * [[courtois]]

+ * [[courtoisie]]

+ * [[arrière-cour]]

+ * [[avant-cour]]

+ * [[basse-cour]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[courtisan]]

+ * [[courtiser]]

+ * [[cohorte]]

+ * [[court]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}