Word.ws English Dictionary

court

/ˈkɔːt//ˈkɔɹt/

court noun: 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.

court: an enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by...
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Noun

court (plural courts)

  1. 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.
    • 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.1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Palace of Art”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza XXX, page 77
    1. (Australia, US) A street with no outlet, a cul-de-sac.
    2. (Hong-Kong) A housing estate under the Home Ownership Scheme.
    3. (Hong-Kong) An apartment building, or a small development of several apartment buildings.
  2. (social) The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or other dignitary; a palace.
    • The noblemen visited the queen in her court.
    • This our court, infected with their manners, / Shows like a riotous inn.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...
  3. (social) 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.
    • Meronym: royal household
    • The queen and her court traveled to the city to welcome back the soldiers.
  4. (social) Any formal assembling of the retinue of a sovereign.
    • The princesses[…] held their court within the fortress.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XX, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
  5. Attention directed to a person in power; behaviour designed to gain favor; politeness of manner; civility towards someone.
    • No solace could her paramour entreat / Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
    • I went to make court to the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle at their house in Clerkenwell.1667 April 27 (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...
  6. The hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered.
    • Many famous criminals have been put on trial in this court.
    • Mr Smith wasn't in all day; he had to go to 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 cases.
    • The court started proceedings at 11 o'clock.
    • 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?2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian
  8. 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.
  9. (capitalized, often) The judge or judges or other judicial officer presiding in a particular matter, particularly as distinguished from the counsel or jury, or both.
    • A case conference in person was convened.... To emphasize that it was a Court proceeding the Court was gowned.2017 May 5, Kevin R. Aalto, “Gordon v. Canada, 2017 FC 454”, in CanLII, retrieved 23 Feb 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...2018 August 17, M.F. McParland, “R. v. Carlson, 2018 BCPC 209”, in CanLII, retrieved 01 Mar 2020
  10. The session of a judicial assembly.
    • The court is now in session.
    • On Thursday morning, a Hennepin County judge formally sentenced Julissa Thaler to the life sentence for Eli Hart's murder. […] After court, family said their focus now turns to fundraising a playground in Mound in Eli Hart's honor […]2023 February 16, WCCO Staff, “Julissa Thaler sentenced to life in prison for murdering 6-year-old son, Eli Hart”, in cbsnews.com
  11. Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.
  12. 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.
    1. one of the two divisions of a tennis, badminton or volleyball court, in which the player or players of each team play
      • 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.2010, Cara Marcus, Faulkner Hospital
  13. A space prepared and decorated by certain bird species in which to advertise themselves for a mate.
    • The male Wilson's bird of paradise clears an area of rainforest to create a court in which to perform an elaborate mating dance.

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 (a prize).
    • He was courting big new accounts that previous salesmen had not attempted.
    • 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.1800, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of The Reign of Philip The Second, King of Spain, volume 3
  2. (transitive) To risk (a consequence, usually negative).
    • She courted controversy with her frank speeches.
    • 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?1964 April, “Automatic Signalling Problems in an Emergency”, in Modern Railways, page 273
  3. (transitive) To attempt to attract, in any way; to invite by attractions.
    • Near-synonyms: entice, allure; see also Thesaurus:allure
    1. (transitive) To try to win a commitment to marry from.
      • If either of you both love Katharina […] / Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure.c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, act 1, scene 1
    2. (transitive) To engage in behavior conducive to mating with.
      • The bird was courting a potential mate by performing an elaborate dance.
      • At this time of year, you can see many animals courting.
    3. (transitive) To attempt to gain alliance with.
    4. (intransitive, transitive) To engage in activities intended to win affections.
      • She's had a few beaus come courting.

Proper noun capitalized: Court

Court

  1. A surname from Middle English for someone who worked or lived in a court.
  2. Nickname for someone named Courtney.
    • 'Hey Court, I just got off the phone with the detective on Mike's case. Got a second?' 'Sure,' Courtney answered, excited.2025, Lisa Scottoline, The Unravelling of Julia, page 40
  3. A municipality in Bern canton, Switzerland.

court meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

court in Hindi

enclosed space; a courtyard
आंगन āṅgan, प्राङ्गण prāṅgaṇ
residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or ether dignitary
दरबार darbār
hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered
कचहरी kacahrī, न्यायालय nyāyālay, अदालत adālat
tribunal established for the administration of justice
न्यायालय nyāyālay, अदालत adālat, धर्माधिकरण dharmādhikraṇ, व्यवहारालय vyavhārālay

court in Tamil

collective body of persons composing the retinue of a sovereign or person high in authority
அவை avai
tribunal established for the administration of justice
நீதிமன்றம் nītimaṉṟam
session of a judicial assembly
அவை avai

court in Urdu

enclosed space; a courtyard
آن٘گَن āṅgan
residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or ether dignitary
دَرْبار darbār
hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered
عَدالَت 'adālat, داد گاہ dād gāh
tribunal established for the administration of justice
عَدالَت 'adālat, مَحْکَمَہ mahkama, داد گاہ dād-gāh, کچہری kacahrī, عدالت گاہ 'adālat-gāh, عدالت خانہ 'adālat-xāna

court in Bengali

enclosed space; a courtyard
অঙ্গন oṅgon, উঠোন uṭhōn
hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered
আদালত adalot
tribunal established for the administration of justice
আদালত adalot
More languagesFewer languages
court in Telugu
ఆవరణ āvaraṇa, మైదానము maidānamu, న్యాయస్థానము nyāyasthānamu, అధికారిక సమావేశము adhikārika samāvēśamu
court in Malayalam
കോടതി kōṭati, കച്ചേരി kaccēri
court in Kannada
ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ nyāyālaya
court in Punjabi
ਕਚਹਿਰੀ kachirī, ਦਰਬਾਰ darbār, ٹیچا ṭīcā
court in Gujarati
કચેરી kacerī, ન્યાયાલય nyāyālay
court in Odia
ନ୍ଯ଼ାଯ଼ାଳଯ଼, କୋର୍ଟ, ଅଦାଲତ
court in Sanskrit
प्राङ्गण prāṅgaṇa, न्यायालय nyāyālaya, व्यवहारालय vyavahārālaya, धर्माधिकरण dharmādhikaraṇa
court in Sinhala
උසාවිය usāwiya
court in Assamese
আদালত adalot
court in Nepali
अदालत adālat
court in Pashto
انګړ angaṛ, محکمه mahkama, نياوتون nyāwtun, نياو ځي nyāw jay
court in Arabic
فِنَاء fināʔ, حَوْش ḥawš, مَحْكَمَة maḥkama, مَلْعَب malʕab
court in Malay
laman dalam, mahkamah, gelanggang
court in Indonesian
lapangan, pengadilan, mahkamah, gelanggang
court in Thai
ลาน laan, ศาล sǎan, คอร์ต kɔ̀ɔt
court in Vietnamese
sân, tòa án
court in Myanmar
အိမ်ဝင်း im-wang:, ဝင်း wang:, တရားရုံး ta.ra:rum:, တရားခွင် ta.ra:hkwang

Examples of court in a sentence

  • Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and...
  • My lord, there is a nobleman of the court at door would speak with you.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...
  • Love rules the court, the camp, the grove.1819–1824, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London, (please specify |canto=I to XVII):
  • By one person, however, Portland was still assiduously courted, and that person was the king.1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 24, in The History of England: From the Accession of James II, volume 5:

All 40 example sentences with court

Synonyms of court

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of court

Forms of court

Noun
pluralcourts
Verb
third-person singular presentcourts
present participlecourting
past participlecourted
pastcourted

Past tense of court: courted

Plural of court: courts

Origin of court

From Middle English court, from Old French cort, curt, from Late Latin cōrs, contracted from Latin cohors. Doublet of cohort. Professional tennis players playing on a tennis court (noun sense 5) in New Delhi, India

* As an English and French surname, from the noun court. Also from the French adjective court (“short”). * As an Irish surname, reduced from McCourt.

Words formed from court

Phrases with court

151 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with court

44 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about court

What does court mean?
Court means 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.
What is court in Hindi?
Court in Hindi is आंगन (āṅgan), प्राङ्गण (prāṅgaṇ), न्यायालय (nyāyālay). See Court meaning in Hindi.
How do you use court in a sentence?
Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.
What part of speech is court?
Court can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce court?
Court is pronounced /ˈkɔːt/ (UK).
What is the plural of court?
The plural of court is courts.

Words near court in the dictionary

  1. coursing joint
  2. coursing joints
  3. coursings
  4. Courson
  5. Coursons
  6. court
  7. court appearance
  8. court appearances
  9. court baron
  10. court bouillon
  11. court bouillons

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: court (page history and authors); Court (page history and authors); കച്ചേരി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ٹیچا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); કચેરી (Gujarati) (page history and authors); court (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); আদালত (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-caught.ogg, en-us-court.ogg, EN-AU ck1 court.ogg.

Cite this entry: “court.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/court. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.