court

UK/ˈkɔːt/US/ˈkɔɹt/

nounB15 meanings One of the most common words in English · #405 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: courts, courted, courting

A court is the marked ground a game is played on — tennis, basketball, squash, with lines painted on it and a net across the middle. It is also the room where a judge sits, with the witness box on one side and the public at the back.

Those two senses share one old idea: an enclosed space. A third is the royal court, a king or queen and everyone who attends them, which is where courtier and courtship come from. As a verb you court someone in the old-fashioned way, or you court something bad on purpose: court disaster, court controversy, court publicity. Learn the legal phrases as blocks — a case goes to court, comes to court, is settled out of court, and a judge clears the court. One preposition trap: players are ON court, never in it.

Definitions of court

1nounsportsA marked area of ground where tennis, basketball or a similar game is played.B1~16%
“The clay court was still wet from the morning rain.”
2nounlawThe place where legal cases are heard, together with the judge and officials who hear them.B1~78%
“The court found him not guilty on both charges.”
synonyms: tribunal
3nounkingA king or queen together with the people who attend them.B2~2%
“The poet spent ten years at the Spanish court.”
4verbtryTo try to win someone's love or support.C1~2%
“He courted her for two summers before proposing.”
5verbbehaveTo behave in a way that invites something bad.C1~2%
“Driving at that speed on ice is courting disaster.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 6 sentences found in the wild and placed 6 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

Phrases it lives in

out of court — settled by agreement, without a trial
the ball is in your court — it is your turn to act

Also practised as

nounThe formal room where a judge decides if someone broke the law.

Where it comes from

Court came through Middle English and Old French cort from Latin cōrs, a shortening of cohors — the same word that gives English cohort. A cohort was a yard full of soldiers, a walled enclosure with people in it. Tennis courts, law courts and royal courts are all still that: a marked-off space and the people inside it.

Middle English
court
English, today
court

From Middle English court. From Middle English court, from Old French cort, from Latin cōrs, contracted from Latin cohors. a doublet of cohort.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sports & Fitness

Practise this word

court in the wild

Established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations, the court began work in April 1946.
International Court of Justice
Since its first case was submitted in 1947, the court has entertained 201 cases as of September 2025.
International Court of Justice
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States.
Supreme Court of the United States
Each justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before the court.
Supreme Court of the United States
Wimbledon has been held since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts; it is the only tennis major still played on grass, the traditional surface.
Wimbledon Championships

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

Definitions of court

1nounsportsA marked area of ground where tennis, basketball or a similar game is played.B1~16%

“The clay court was still wet from the morning rain.”

2nounlawThe place where legal cases are heard, together with the judge and officials who hear them.B1~78%

“The court found him not guilty on both charges.”

synonyms: tribunal

3nounkingA king or queen together with the people who attend them.B2~2%

“The poet spent ten years at the Spanish court.”

4verbtryTo try to win someone's love or support.C1~2%

“He courted her for two summers before proposing.”

5verbbehaveTo behave in a way that invites something bad.C1~2%

“Driving at that speed on ice is courting disaster.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 6 sentences found in the wild and placed 6 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.