court

Definition

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.

Etymology

From Middle English court, from Old French cort, curt, from Late Latin cōrs, contracted from Latin cohors. Doublet of cohort. A court (noun sense 4.2) assembled to hear the testimony of Charles Lindbergh. The room is also a court (noun sense 4.1). Professional tennis players playing on a tennis court (noun sense 5) in New Delhi, India

Example Sentences

• "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."
• "Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court."