curtilage

[kur-tl-ij]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR curtilage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Law.

the area of land occupied by a dwelling and its yard and outbuildings, actually enclosed or considered as enclosed.

Origin of curtilage

1250–1300; Middle English courtelage < Anglo-French; Old French cortillage, equivalent to cortil yard (cort court + -il diminutive suffix) + -age -age

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for curtilage

street, square, piazza, forum, quadrangle, plaza, quad, courtyard, close, cloister, compass, enclosure, patio, curtilage

Examples from the Web for curtilage

Historical Examples of curtilage

They had been seen prowling about the curtilage of the ale-house the night before.
The Yeoman Adventurer
George W. Gough
He shall also have the curtilage with the garden adjoining the hall on the north side enclosed as it is with hedges and ditches.
Parish Priests and Their People in the Middle Ages in England
Edward L. Cutts
On the other hand, there need be no restrictions on the height or cubic contents of any building provided its curtilage be ample.
The Dwelling House
George Vivian Poore
We made our curtilage here, and here we lived happy until husband died of a fever.
In The Boyhood of Lincoln
Hezekiah Butterworth
Lincoln laid off his curtilage on a gentle hillock having a slope on every side.
The Life Of Abraham Lincoln
Ward H. Lamon

British Dictionary definitions for curtilage

curtilage

noun

the enclosed area of land adjacent to a dwelling house

Word Origin for curtilage

C14: from Old French cortillage, from cortil a little yard, from cort court

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for curtilage

early 14c., from Anglo-French curtilage, from Old French cortil "little court, walled garden, yard," from Medieval Latin cortile "court, yard," from Latin cortis (see court (n.)).