court
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English court, from Old French cort, curt, from Latin cōrtem (accusative of cōrs), ultimately from cohors. Doublet of cohort.


Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kɔːt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /kɔɹt/
- (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /ko(ː)ɹt/
- (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA(key): /koət/
Audio (UK female) (file) Audio (UK male) (file) Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Homophone: caught (non-rhotic with the horse-hoarse merger)
- Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t
Noun[edit]
court (plural courts)
- An enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by different buildings; also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.
- The girls were playing in the court.
- 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Palace of Art”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza XXX, page 77:
- All round the cool green courts there ran a row / Of cloisters, branched like mighty woods, / Echoing all night to that sonorous flow / Of spouted fountain floods.
- 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith [from the Encyclopædia Britannica]”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:
- Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.
- (Australia, US) A street with no outlet, a cul-de-sac.
- (Hong Kong, only used in names) A housing estate under the House Ownership Scheme.
- (Hong Kong, only used in names) An apartment building, or a small development of several apartment buildings.
- (social) Royal society.
- The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or other dignitary; a palace.
- The noblemen visited the queen in her court.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
- This our court, infected with their manners, / Shows like a riotous inn.
- The collective body of persons composing the retinue of a sovereign or person high in authority; all the surroundings of a sovereign in his regal state.
- The queen and her court traveled to the city to welcome back the soldiers.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
- My lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door would speak with you.
- 1819–1824, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London, (please specify |canto=I to XVII):
- Love rules the court, the camp, the grove.
- Any formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 20, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- The princesses […] held their court within the fortress.
- The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or other dignitary; a palace.
- Attention directed to a person in power; behaviour designed to gain favor; politeness of manner; civility towards someone
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- No solace could her paramour entreat / Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.
- 1667 April 28 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 18 April 1667]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC:
- I went to make court to the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle at their house in Clerkenwell.
- (law) The administration of law.
- The hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered.
- Many famous criminals have been put on trial in this court.
- The persons officially assembled under authority of law, at the appropriate time and place, for the administration of justice; an official assembly, legally met together for the transaction of judicial business; a judge or judges sitting for the hearing or trial of cases.
- The court started proceedings at 11 o'clock.
- 2012 August 21, Pilkington, Ed, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian:
- Next month, Clemons will be brought before a court presided over by a "special master", who will review the case one last time. The hearing will be unprecedented in its remit, but at its core will be a simple issue: should Reggie Clemons live or die?
- 1985, “Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)”, in Justice Canada[1], retrieved 1 March 2020:
- 536(2.1). ... You have the option to elect to be tried by a provincial court judge without a jury; or you may elect to be tried by a judge without a jury; or you may elect to be tried by a court composed of a judge and jury.
- An organization for the administration of law, consisting of a body of judges with a certain jurisdiction along with its administrative apparatus.
- Each province in Canada has three courts: a provincial court, a superior court, and a court of appeals.
- (often capitalized) The judge or judges or other judicial officer presiding in a particular matter, particularly as distinguished from the counsel or jury, or both.
- 2017 May 5, Kevin R. Aalto, J., “Gordon v. Canada, 2017 FC 454”, in CanLII[2], retrieved 23 February 2020:
- A case conference in person was convened.... To emphasize that it was a Court proceeding the Court was gowned.
- 2018 August 17, M.F. McParland, J., “R. v. Carlson, 2018 BCPC 209”, in CanLII[3], retrieved 1 March 2020:
- [5]... defence alleges there is a reasonable apprehension of bias based on the cumulative effect of several issues including the following: (1) The Court was “crying” during the victim impact statement; (2) The Court laughed or “scoffed” when defence stated its sentencing position; ...(6) The Court’s tone, facial expression and demeanor throughout the proceedings...
- The session of a judicial assembly.
- The court is now in session.
- Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.
- The hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered.
- (sports) A place arranged for playing the games of tennis, basketball, handball, badminton, volleyball, squash and some other games
- The local sports club has six tennis courts and two squash courts.
- The shuttlecock landed outside the court.
- 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court:
- By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.
- one of the two divisions of a tennis, badminton or volleyball court, in which the player or players of each team play
- 2010, Cara Marcus, Faulkner Hospital:
- The photograph at left captures a great serve by Dr. Sadowsky, who will never forget one of Bobby Riggs's serves, which had such a great spin that it landed in his court and bounced back to the other side of the net before he had a chance to return it.
Derived terms[edit]
- agreement on the choice of court
- all-court
- apex court
- appeals court
- appellate court
- auto court
- badminton court
- base court
- basketball court
- cabin court
- charter court
- choice of court agreement
- civil court
- clay court
- constitutional court
- contempt of court
- cottage court
- county court
- court-baron
- court-cupboard
- court-house
- court-leet
- court-marshal
- court-martial
- court-martialed
- court-packing
- court-ridden
- court appearance
- court baron
- court bouillon
- court card
- court case
- court circular
- court costs
- court customary
- court fee
- court fight
- court guide
- court hand
- court holy water
- courthouse
- court in banc
- court in bank
- court jester
- courtlike
- courtly
- court martial
- court of appeal
- court of appeals
- court of cassation
- court of equity
- court of first instance
- court of honor
- court of honour
- court of inquiry
- court of justice
- court of last resort
- court of law
- court of record
- court of second instance
- court order
- court plaster
- court poor box
- court reporter
- court roll
- courtroom
- court sense
- court shoe
- court sword
- court tennis
- courtyard
- cross-court
- day in court
- deuce court
- Diplock court
- drum-head court
- drumhead court-martial
- e-court
- Earl's Court
- family court
- food court
- friend at court
- full-court press
- full court press
- Grange Court
- grass court
- half-court
- half-court line
- half-court violation
- half court
- Hampton Court
- high court
- hold court
- in court
- inferior court
- in open court
- kangaroo court
- laugh out of court
- law court
- lower court
- magistrates' court
- mags court
- manorial court
- moot court
- motor court
- national court
- night court
- Nightingale court
- officer of the court
- out-of-court
- palm court
- palm court orchestra
- plenary court
- police court
- prerogative court
- probate court
- quarterly court
- service court
- show court
- squash court
- stannary court
- subordinate court
- superior court
- supreme court
- take to court
- tennis court
- the ball is in someone's court
- tourist court
- trial court
- youth court
Descendants[edit]
Translations[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Verb[edit]
court (third-person singular simple present courts, present participle courting, simple past and past participle courted)
- (transitive) To seek to achieve or win.
- He was courting big new accounts that previous salesman had not attempted.
- 1800, Prescott, William H[ickling], History of The Reign of Philip The Second, King of Spain, volume 3:
- On the contrary, they employed the brief respite that was left them in fortifying one another's courage, and in bearing testimony to the truth in so earnest a manner that they might almost seem to have courted the crown of martyrdom.
- 1821, De Quincey, Thomas, “To the Reader”, in Confessions of an English Opium-Eater:
- Guilt and misery shrink, by a natural instinct, from public notice: they court privacy and solitude: and even in their choice of a grave will sometimes sequester themselves from the general population of the churchyard […]
- (transitive) To risk (a consequence, usually negative).
- He courted controversy with his frank speeches.
- 1964 April, “Automatic Signalling Problems in an Emergency”, in Modern Railways, page 273:
- It is not unknown for hot axleboxes to fail completely and for wagons to become derailed as a result. Surely it is courting disaster to allow a train to proceed for up to seven miles with a defective vehicle before it can be brought to a halt?
- (transitive) To try to win a commitment to marry from.
- c. 1590–1592, Shakespeare, William, The Taming of the Shrew, act 1, scene 1:
- If either of you both love Katharina […] / Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure.
- (transitive) To engage in behavior leading to mating.
- The bird was courting by making an elaborate dance.
- (transitive) To attempt to attract.
- 1849, Macaulay, Thomas Babington, chapter 24, in The History of England: From the Accession of James II, volume 5:
- By one person, however, Portland was still assiduously courted, and that person was the king.
- (transitive) To invite by attractions; to allure; to attract.
- Synonyms: charm, entrance; see also Thesaurus:allure
- a. 1835, Lord Tennyson, Alfred, The Gardener's Daughter:
- […] a well-worn pathway courted us / To one green wicket in a privet hedge […]
- 1902, Robert Marshall Grade, The Haunted Major:
- It is a grim, grey old town, standing on bleak, precipitous cliffs that court every passing hurricane, […]
- (transitive) To attempt to gain alliance with.
- (intransitive) To engage in activities intended to win someone's affections.
- Synonyms: romance, solicit; see also Thesaurus:woo
- She's had a few beaus come courting.
- (intransitive) To engage in courtship behavior.
- In this season, you can see many animals courting.
Translations[edit]
|
Further reading[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
French[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /kuʁ/
audio (file) - Homophones: cour, coure, courent, coures, courre, cours, courts
- Rhymes: -uʁ
Etymology 1[edit]
Inherited from Old French curt, from Latin curtus.
Adjective[edit]
court (feminine courte, masculine plural courts, feminine plural courtes)
Derived terms[edit]
- à court
- à court terme
- avoir la mémoire courte
- avoir le respire court et le discours égaré
- circuit court
- couper court
- court sur pattes
- court-circuit
- courte échelle
- les plaisanteries les plus courtes sont les meilleures
- mémoire à court terme
- pendre haut et court
- piste courte
- pour faire court
- prendre de court
- tirer à la courte paille
- tourner court
- tout court
Related terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb[edit]
court
Etymology 3[edit]
Noun[edit]
court m (plural courts)
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “court”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Old French cort, curt, from Latin cōrs, contraction of cohors, cohortem.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
court (plural courtes)
- A courtyard; an enclosed space.
- A grand residence, especially that of a ruler or noble.
- The household or retinue of a ruler; a ruler's court.
- A (royal) assembly; a deliberative body.
- A court of law; the body which administers justice:
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
References[edit]
- “cǒurt, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Middle French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French cort, curt, etc.
Noun[edit]
court f (plural cours)
- court (of law)
- court (of a palace, etc.)
- 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac:
- quant il les eut faictes si les scella & les bailla a la damoiselle pour porter l'andemain a court
- when he had written them [the letters] he then sealed them and entrusted them to the lady to take them tomorrow to the court
Descendants[edit]
- French: cour
References[edit]
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (court, supplement)
Norman[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French curt, from Latin curtus (“shortened, short”).
Adjective[edit]
court m
Derived terms[edit]
- courtément (adverb)
Walloon[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French curt, from Latin curtus.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
court m (feminine singular courte, masculine plural courts, feminine plural courtes, feminine plural (before noun) courtès)
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰer- (enclose)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with audio links
- English terms with homophones
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)t
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)t/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- Australian English
- American English
- Hong Kong English
- en:Law
- en:Sports
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Collectives
- en:Feudalism
- en:Roads
- en:Sports areas
- en:Tennis
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French terms with homophones
- Rhymes:French/uʁ
- Rhymes:French/uʁ/1 syllable
- French terms derived from Proto-Italic
- French terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms inherited from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms
- French terms borrowed from English
- French terms derived from English
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Tennis
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Latin
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English terms with rare senses
- enm:Buildings
- enm:Collectives
- enm:Housing
- enm:Household
- enm:Law
- enm:Monarchy
- enm:Nobility
- enm:Royal residences
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French nouns
- Middle French feminine nouns
- Middle French countable nouns
- Middle French terms with quotations
- Norman terms inherited from Old French
- Norman terms derived from Old French
- Norman terms inherited from Latin
- Norman terms derived from Latin
- Norman lemmas
- Norman adjectives
- Jersey Norman
- Walloon terms inherited from Old French
- Walloon terms derived from Old French
- Walloon terms inherited from Latin
- Walloon terms derived from Latin
- Walloon terms with IPA pronunciation
- Walloon lemmas
- Walloon adjectives