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  Court

  noun

  Margaret Smith, born 1942, Australian tennis player.

court

¹ American  

[kawrt] / kɔrt /

noun

• courts
  plural

1. Law.

   1. a place where justice is administered.

   2. a judicial tribunal duly constituted for the hearing and determination of cases.

   3. a session of a judicial assembly.

2. an area open to the sky and mostly or entirely surrounded by buildings, walls, etc.

3. a high interior usually having a glass roof and surrounded by several stories of galleries or the like.

4. Chiefly Irish. a stately dwelling.

5. a short street.

6. a smooth, level quadrangle on which to play tennis, basketball, etc.

7. one of the divisions of such an area.

8. the residence of a sovereign or other high dignitary; palace.

9. a sovereign's or dignitary's retinue.

10. a sovereign and councilors as the political rulers of a state.

11. a formal assembly held by a sovereign.

12. homage paid, as to a king.

13. special or devoted attention in order to win favor, affection, etc..

    to pay court to the king.

14. the body of qualified members of a corporation, council, board, etc.

15. a branch or lodge of a fraternal society.

16. Animal Behavior.

    1. an area where animals of a particular species gather to display.

    2. the group of insects, as honeybees, surrounding the queen; retinue.

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verb (used with object)

• courts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• courted,
  past participle,  past
• courting
  present participle

1. to try to win the favor, preference, or goodwill of.

   to court the rich.

2. to seek the affections of; woo.

3. (of animals) to attempt to attract (a mate) by engaging in certain species-specific behaviors.

4. to attempt to gain (applause, favor, a decision, etc.).

5. to hold out inducements to; invite.

6. to act in such a manner as to cause, lead to, or provoke.

   to court disaster by reckless driving.

verb (used without object)

• courts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• courted,
  past participle,  past
• courting
  present participle

1. to seek another's love; woo.

2. (of animals) to engage in certain species-specific behaviors in order to attract a mate.

idioms

1. hold court,

   1. to have a formal assembly of a judicial tribunal or one held by a sovereign.

   2. to be surrounded by one's disciples or admirers, giving advice, exchanging gossip, receiving compliments, etc.

2. out of court,

   1. without a legal hearing; privately.

      The case will be settled out of court.

   2. out of the question; undeserving of discussion.

      This wild scheme is entirely out of court.

Court ² American  

[kawrt, kohrt] / kɔrt, koʊrt /

noun

1. Margaret Smith, born 1942, Australian tennis player.

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court ¹ British  

/ kɔːt /

noun

1. an area of ground wholly or partly surrounded by walls or buildings

2. (capital when part of a name)

   1. a block of flats

      Selwyn Court

   2. a mansion or country house

   3. a short street, sometimes closed at one end

3. a space inside a building, sometimes surrounded with galleries

4. 1. the residence, retinues, or household of a sovereign or nobleman

   2. ( as modifier )

      a court ball

5. a sovereign or prince and his retinue, advisers, etc

6. any formal assembly, reception, etc, held by a sovereign or nobleman with his courtiers

7. homage, flattering attention, or amorous approaches (esp in the phrase pay court to someone )

8. law

   1. an authority having power to adjudicate in civil, criminal, military, or ecclesiastical matters

   2. the regular sitting of such a judicial authority

   3. the room or building in which such a tribunal sits

9. 1. a marked outdoor or enclosed area used for any of various ball games, such as tennis, squash, etc

   2. a marked section of such an area

      the service court

10. 1. the board of directors or council of a corporation, company, etc

    2. the supreme council of some universities

11. a branch of any of several friendly societies

12. to take legal action

13. to preside over admirers, attendants, etc

14. 1. without a trial or legal case

       the case was settled out of court

    2. too unimportant for consideration

    3. so as to ridicule completely (in the phrase laugh out of court )

15. you are obliged to make the next move

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verb

1. to attempt to gain the love of (someone); woo

2. (tr) to pay attention to (someone) in order to gain favour

3. (tr) to try to obtain (fame, honour, etc)

4. (tr) to invite, usually foolishly, as by taking risks

   to court disaster

5. old-fashioned to be conducting a serious emotional relationship usually leading to marriage

Court ² British  

/ kɔːt /

noun

1. Margaret (née Smith ). born 1942, Australian tennis player, winner of a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles: Australian Open champion 1960–66, 1969–71, and 1973; US Open champion 1962, 1965, 1969–70, and 1973; Wimbledon champion 1963, 1965, and 1970; French Open champion 1962, 1965, 1969–70, and 1973

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court More Idioms  

1. see ball's in your court; day in court; friend in court; hold court; kangaroo court; laugh out of court; pay court to.

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Usage

Where does court come from? Court of law. Tennis court. Courtship. Courtyard. Courtesy. Ever notice that all of these words and phrases—and many others—include court in some form? That’s no coincidence. The word court entered English around 1125–75. It comes from French, ultimately from the Latin cohors, variously meaning “farmyard, armed force, cohort, retinue.” More about that Latin noun cohors in the next section. Today, if someone says they went to court, they are referring to the place where lawyers argue cases, juries weigh evidence, and judges issue sentences. (We hope they weren’t in any trouble.) The legal senses of court are among the word’s oldest, found at least by the end of the 1200s in the sense of “assembly of judges.”Even older is the royal court. Think of those medieval princes and princesses doing their princely and princessly things in courts. Found in the mid- to late 1100s, that court originally referred to the place where a sovereign lived, as well as to an assembly that that ruler held. Whether used of royalty and law, these early senses of court—still in use today—suggest an underlying idea of an official group gathered together in an area set aside for special purposes. Speaking of physical spaces, many sports are played on courts, including basketball, volleyball, and tennis and other racquet sports. The original sports court, as far as the word is concerned, was for tennis. This draws on that basic sense of court as “an enclosed area.”Dig deeperHow are the words courtesy and courtship connected to court? Courtesy (“polite behavior”), along with the adjective courteous, comes from French words meaning “having manners fitting for the court of a prince.” Fun fact: curtsy,“a respectful bow made by women and girls, consisting of bending the knees and lowering the body,” is a variant of courtesy. Courtship stems from court in its verb sense of “to woo,” as in He courted his partner over romantic emails and text messages. Court, as a verb, can also mean “to win the favor (of another).” These senses are connected to the idea of paying court—homage, attention, and well, courtesy—to someone, as they historically would have at a court. Learn even more words about related to court at our entries for courtier and courtesan.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outcourt
  verb (used with object)
• uncourted
  adjective
• well-courted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• courts
  plural

Participles

• courting
  present
• courted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• court
  simple
• courts
  simple
• have courted
  perfect
• has courted
  perfect
• am courting
  progressive
• are courting
  progressive
• is courting
  progressive
• have been courting
  perfect progressive
• has been courting
  perfect progressive

Past

• courted
  simple
• had courted
  perfect
• was courting
  progressive
• were courting
  progressive
• had been courting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will court
  simple
• will have courted
  perfect
• will be courting
  progressive
• will have been courting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of court

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English co(u)rt, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin cohort- (stem of cohors ) “farmyard”; see cohort

Explanation

A court is a room where justice is administered. Many popular television shows feature scenes in court, although it’s debatable whether these depictions are realistic. Court can refer not just to the courtroom but also to the judges who preside over it, as in the example of the U.S. Supreme Court. Court can also refer to monarchs and their attendants, as in the phrase "royal court." As a verb, court means “try to win the affections of someone,” as, historically, people sought to win the favor of royalty. (But if you try courting anyone in a modern courtroom, you'll probably be accused of bribery.)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

court Court courts courted courting

In 1890, the North River Sugar Refining Corporation was dissolved by New York’s highest court on the grounds that it was abusing its power as a corporation.

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026

Heather Wilkinson's husband Ian, the only surviving guest of the lunch, was in court.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Walmart stopped buying its food, such as some store-brand prepared meals, in January, according to court documents related to the bankruptcy filing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

After the mistakes were pointed out in court, Musick, Peeler & Garrett acknowledged the firm had discovered “nonexistent case citations which appear to have been AI hallucinations” across a recent batch of motions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

“It is my guilt, which I will have to carry before God and the German nation,” he told the court.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

The president had appealed that verdict, as well as a larger defamation verdict in a separate lawsuit, all the way to the Supreme Court.

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026

While the cases were initially dismissed by a state court judge, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court revived the suits last fall.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

This gave the administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

It confirmed a Supreme Court justice facing sexual misconduct allegations.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

The usual way for sparrows to leave the Court was to fly out from under the eaves.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

"If the government can't fix it, which it hasn't, and industry can't fix it, which it hasn't, then cannot the courts fix it?"

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

He also said the courts would address the various matters should the opposition party challenge the election outcome.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Furthermore, federal courts have typically given the president broad discretion in implementing the statute.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

If the U.S. had such evidence, it should be presented to Mexico, where the accused would be judged in Mexican courts, Sheinbaum repeated Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

He hated going to the free courts, since it took two buses to get to the closest one, and then he’d have to wait sometimes for more than an hour to get a game.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Salary-cap circumvention allegations first surfaced with Leonard during his free agency in 2019 after he led the Raptors to the NBA championship and was being courted by the Lakers and Clippers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

A neurologist named Leonard Schleifer courted him for more than a year to team up on a biotech venture that Schleifer was starting in a one-bedroom apartment at Cornell University’s medical resident housing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

MSG's owners have courted controversy by aggressively using facial recognition technology to detect and exclude not only lawyers who have sued the company -- but all of their colleagues too.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

But Epstein courted influence and rubbed shoulders with prominent individuals associated with both parties in his efforts to rehabilitate his reputation.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

For the first time in her life, Kate was being seriously courted.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Insiders have told BBC Sport that Spurs knew they had to be both aggressive and quick, with the first quality likely extending to fees, wages and De Zerbi's personal involvement in courting players.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Long before the Supreme Court handed down the landmark Obergefell ruling on equal marriage in 2015, activists were canvassing door to door, courting any lawmaker who would listen, and losing at the local level—a lot.

From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026

Banks have been aggressively courting such customers with cards promising increasingly elaborate perks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Ten years after the fall of Troy, Odysseus still hasn’t returned home to Ithaca, and his kingdom has been overtaken by suitors crudely courting his wife’s hand.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

“And it won’t do to go courting an old lady, either.”

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt

Related Words

• attract
• charm
• cultivate
• entice
• invite
• please
• praise
• propose
• pursue
• seek
• solicit
• sue
• woo