court

English

Etymology

From Old French cort, curt, from Latin cortem (accusative of cors), ultimately from cohors.

Pronunciation

A court (def. 7) assembled to hear the testimony of Charles Lindbergh. The room is also a court (def. 6).
Professional tennis players playing on a tennis court (def. 12) in New Delhi, India

Noun

court (plural courts)

  1. An enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by different building; also, a space opening from a street and nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.
    The girls were playing in the court.
  2. The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or ether dignitary; a palace.
    The noblemen visited the queen in her court.
  3. 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.
  4. Any formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign; as, to hold a court.
  5. Attention directed to a person in power; conduct or address designed to gain favor; courtliness of manners; civility; compliment; flattery.
  6. The hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered.
    Many famous criminals have been put on trial in this court.
  7. 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 causes.
    The court started proceedings at 11 o' clock.
    • 2012 August 21, Pilkington, Ed, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, 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?
  8. A tribunal established for the administration of justice.
  9. The judge or judges; as distinguished from the counsel or jury, or both.
  10. The session of a judicial assembly.
    The court is now in session.
  11. Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.
  12. (sports) A place arranged for playing the games of tennis, basketball, squash, badminton, volleyball and some other games; also, one of the divisions of a tennis court.
    The local sports club has six tennis courts and two squash courts .
    The shuttlecock landed outside the court.

Derived terms

terms derived from court (noun)

Translations

enclosed space; a courtyard
residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or ether dignitary
collective body of persons composing the retinue of a sovereign or person high in authority
formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign
attention directed to a person in power
hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered
persons officially assembled under authority of law
tribunal established for the administration of justice
judge or judges
session of a judicial assembly
jurisdiction
place for playing the game of tennis and some other ball games
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
A man courting a woman by giving her flowers, in a 14th century work

Verb

court (third-person singular simple present courts, present participle courting, simple past and past participle courted)

  1. (transitive) To seek to achieve or win.
    He was courting big new accounts that previous salesman had not attempted.
  2. (transitive) To risk (a consequence, usually negative).
    He courted controversy with his frank speeches.
  3. (transitive) To win a commitment to marry from.
  4. (transitive) To engage in behavior leading to mating.
    The bird was courting by making an elaborate dance.
  5. (transitive) To attempt to attract.
  6. (transitive) To attempt to gain alliance with.
  7. (intransitive) To engage in activities intended to win someone's affections.
    She's had a few beaus come courting.
  8. (intransitive) To engage in courtship behavior.
    In this season, you can see many animals courting.

Translations

to attempt to win over

Statistics

External links

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Wikipedia

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French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Latin curtus.

Adjective

court m (feminine courte, masculine plural courts, feminine plural courtes)

  1. short

Etymology 2

Verb

court

  1. third-person singular present indicative of courir
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Jèrriais

Etymology

From Latin curtus (“shortened, short”).

Adjective

court m (feminine courte, masculine plural courts, feminine plural courtes)

  1. short
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Middle English

Etymology

Old French cort, curt

Noun

court (plural courts)

  1. court (place, building)
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Walloon

Etymology

From Latin curtus.

Adjective

court m (f courte, m plural courts, f plural courtes)

  1. short
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Last modified on 23 April 2013, at 12:57