Word.ws English Dictionary

Nightingale court

Nightingale court noun: a temporary court in England and Wales established to deal with the backlog of legal cases brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.

Noun

Nightingale court (plural Nightingale courts)

  1. (UK, neologism) A temporary court in England and Wales established to deal with the backlog of legal cases brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.
    • The Lowry Theatre in Manchester is to be turned into a Nightingale court as part of the Government's bid to clear a 500,000-case backlog.2020 September 22, “Lowry Theatre lands new role as Nightingale court”, in The Daily Telegraph, page 4
    • CIRENCESTER’S former magistrates court will become a ‘Nightingale Court’ to help deal with the hearing backlog. There are more than 1,000 criminal cases are waiting to be heard in Gloucestershire – a record high and a number that has more than doubled since the start of the pandemic.2020 December 3, “‘Nightingale Court’ may open next month”, in The Gloucestershire Echo, page 5

Forms of Nightingale court

pluralNightingale courts

Origin of Nightingale court

Derived from the establishment of temporary hospitals to house the surplus of patients created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the first being NHS Nightingale in Canning Town, East London. Ultimately named after British nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale.

Questions about Nightingale court

What does Nightingale court mean?
Nightingale court means a temporary court in England and Wales established to deal with the backlog of legal cases brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.
What part of speech is Nightingale court?
Nightingale court is a noun.
What is the plural of Nightingale court?
The plural of Nightingale court is Nightingale courts.

Words near Nightingale court in the dictionary

  1. nighthawks
  2. nightie
  3. nighties
  4. nighting
  5. nightingale
  6. Nightingale court
  7. Nightingale courts
  8. nightingale floor
  9. nightingale floors
  10. Nightingale ward
  11. Nightingale wards

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Nightingale court (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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