Court (kōrt), n. [OF.
court, curt, cort, F. cour, LL.
cortis, fr. L. cohors, cors, chors,
gen. cohortis, cortis, chortis, an
inclosure, court, thing inclosed, crowd, throng; co- + a
root akin to Gr. chorto`s inclosure, feeding place,
and to E. garden, yard, orchard. See
Yard, and cf. Cohort, Curtain.]
1. An inclosed space; a courtyard; an
uncovered area shut in by the walls of a building, or by
different building; also, a space opening from a street and
nearly surrounded by houses; a blind alley.
The courts of the house of our God.
Ps. cxxxv. 2.
And round the cool green courts there ran a
row
Of cloisters.
Tennyson.
Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable
court.
Macaulay.
2. The residence of a sovereign, prince,
nobleman, or other dignitary; a palace.
Attends the emperor in his royal court.
Shak.
This our court, infected with their
manners,
Shows like a riotous inn.
Shak.
3. 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.
My lord, there is a nobleman of the court
at door would speak with you.
Shak.
Love rules the court, the camp, the
grove.
Sir. W. Scott.
4. Any formal assembling of the retinue
of a sovereign; as, to hold a court.
The princesses held their court within the
fortress.
Macaulay.
5. Attention directed to a person in
power; conduct or address designed to gain favor; courtliness of
manners; civility; compliment; flattery.
No solace could her paramour intreat
Her once to show, ne court, nor dalliance.
Spenser.
I went to make my court to the Duke and
Duchess of Newcastle.
Evelyn.
6. (Law) (a) The
hall, chamber, or place, where justice is administered.
(b) 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 causes.
(c) A tribunal established for the
administration of justice. (d) The
judge or judges; as distinguished from the counsel or jury, or
both.
Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.
Shak.
7. The session of a judicial
assembly.
8. Any jurisdiction, civil, military, or
ecclesiastical.
9. A place arranged for playing the game
of tennis; also, one of the divisions of a tennis
court.
Christian court, the English
ecclesiastical courts in the aggregate, or any one of them.
-- Court breeding, education acquired at
court. -- Court card. Same as Coat
card. -- Court circular, one or
more paragraphs of news respecting the sovereign and the royal
family, together with the proceedings or movements of the court
generally, supplied to the newspapers by an officer specially
charged with such duty. [Eng.] Edwards. --
Court day, a day on which a court sits to
administer justice. -- Court dress,
the dress prescribed for appearance at the court of a
sovereign. -- Court fool, a buffoon or
jester, formerly kept by princes and nobles for their
amusement. -- Court guide, a directory
of the names and adresses of the nobility and gentry in a
town. -- Court hand, the hand or
manner of writing used in records and judicial proceedings.
Shak. -- Court lands (Eng. Law),
lands kept in demesne, -- that is, for the use of the lord
and his family. -- Court marshal, one
who acts as marshal for a court. -- Court
party, a party attached to the court. --
Court rolls, the records of a court.
SeeRoll. -- Court in banc, or
Court in bank, The full court sitting at
its regular terms for the hearing of arguments upon questions of
law, as distinguished from a sitting at nisi prius. -
- Court of Arches, audience,
etc. See under Arches, Audience,
etc. -- Court of Chancery. See
Chancery, n. -- Court of
Common pleas. (Law) See Common pleas,
under Common. -- Court of Equity.
See under Equity, and Chancery. --
Court of Inquiry (Mil.) , a court
appointed to inquire into and report on some military matter, as
the conduct of an officer. -- Court of St.
James, the usual designation of the British Court;
-- so called from the old palace of St. James, which is used for
the royal receptions, levees, and drawing-rooms. --
The court of the Lord, the temple at
Jerusalem; hence, a church, or Christian house of worship. -
- General Court, the legislature of a
State; -- so called from having had, in the colonial days,
judicial power; as, the General Court of
Massachusetts. [U.S.] -- To pay one's
court, to seek to gain favor by attentions.
"Alcibiades was assiduous in paying his court to
Tissaphernes." Jowett. -- To put out of
court, to refuse further judicial hearing.