courtyard
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of courtyard
Explanation
A courtyard is an area outside a building that's framed and somewhat enclosed by walls. Your friend might ask you to meet her in the courtyard of her apartment complex. In cities, courtyards provide small, private outdoor areas. Courtyards are often nestled between buildings, or tucked away behind them. For nearly as long as people have built houses and buildings, courtyards have existed — although in the past, they were used for keeping animals, cooking over an open fire, and sometimes even sleeping. The word dates from the 1550s, combining court, from the Latin cohors, "enclosed yard," and yard, from a Germanic root also meaning "enclosure."
Vocabulary lists containing courtyard
Guts
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American Street
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Lesson 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The centre will be built on the site of the theatre's current Courtyard Bar, with the aim of opening in time for the 100th anniversary of Sir Ken's birth in 2027.
From BBC • Aug. 21, 2024
Visitors to the maze, located in the Parisian Courtyard, are greeted by La Muerte before entering the haunted house.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2023
The Alki Courtyard will transform into the festival’s fashion district showcasing clothing designers, hair and makeup stylists, tattoo artists — “anything that is body-focused,” he explained.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 21, 2023
Chesterton classic “The Oracle of the Dog,” followed by Vincent Cornier’s eerie “The Courtyard of the Fly,” in which a huge insect carries off a string of valuable pearls.
From Washington Post • Dec. 8, 2022
They agreed, but only to and from The Courtyard, the fancy outdoor shopping center, during the day and with advance permission.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
