court: [12] Latin cohors designated an ‘enclosed yard’ (it was formed from the prefix com- ‘with’ and an element hort- which also appears in English horticulture). By extension it came to stand for those assembled in such a yard – a crowd of attendants or company of soldiers; hence the meaning of cohort familiar today. But both in its original sense and as ‘retinue’ the word took another and rather more disguised path into English.
In late Latin the accusative form cohortem had already become cortem, and this passed into English via Old French cort and Anglo-Norman curt. It retains the underlying notion of ‘area enclosed by walls or buildings’ (now reinforced in the tautological compound courtyard [16]), but it seems that an early association of Old French cort with Latin curia ‘sovereign’s assembly’ and ‘legal tribunal’ has contributed two of the word’s commonest meanings in modern English.
The Italian version of the word is corte. From this was derived the verb corteggiare ‘attend court, pay honour’, which produced the noun corteggio, borrowed into English via French as cortège [17]. Other derivatives include courtesy [13], from Old French cortesie (of which curtsey [16] is a specialized use) and courtesan [16], via French courtisane from Italian cortigiana. => cohort, courtesy, curtsey, horticulture
court (n.)
late 12c., from Old French cort (11c., Modern French cour) "king's court, princely residence," from Latin cortem, accusative of cors (earlier cohors) "enclosed yard," and by extension (and perhaps by association with curia "sovereign's assembly"), "those assembled in the yard; company, cohort," from com- "together" (see com-) + stem hort- related to hortus "garden, plot of ground" (see yard (n.1)). Sporting sense is from 1510s, originally of tennis. Legal meaning is from late 13c. (early assemblies for justice were overseen by the sovereign personally).
court (v.)
"woo, offer homage," as one does at court, 1570s; see court (n.). Related: Courted; courting.
双语例句
1. The Government is anxious to keep the whole case out of court.
政府迫切希望整件事能够在庭外解决。
来自柯林斯例句
2. A court at Tampa, Florida has convicted five officials on drugs charges.
佛罗里达州坦帕市法庭判决5名官员的毒品交易罪名成立。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The Appeal Court has quashed the convictions of all eleven people.
上诉法庭已经撤销对所有11人的判决。
来自柯林斯例句
4. The case is being referred to the Court of Appeal.
该案件将移交上诉法院审理。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The Court has about 1,400 appeals on its docket.
