Courts

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /kɔɹts/

Definitions

1. Locations where judges and lawyers hear and decide legal disputes ; acts of attempting to gain someone's romantic interest or friendship ; efforts to secure or obtain a desired outcome or advantage
2. Institutions that administer justice through trials and rulings ; behaviors intended to attract or persuade a person emotionally ; initiatives aimed at winning support or success in various endeavors
3. Formal venues where judicial proceedings are conducted ; actions aimed at courting someone's affection or attention ; attempts to gain favor or achieve a particular goal by deliberate effort

Etymology: The word "courts" is the plural of "court," and the key surprise is that "court" and "cohort" are the same word that split in two. Both come from Latin "cohors," meaning an enclosure or yard, and later a unit of Roman soldiers. Over time, Late Latin shortened it to "cōrs," which passed into Old French as "cort" or "curt," and from there into Middle English as "court." The word displaced the native Old English "stapol" (a term that meant something like a platform or base), so the everyday English word for a royal or noble enclosure was once a foreign arrival. The idea of a walled yard gradually came to mean the people and household gathered within it, and then the rulers' household itself, which is how "court" came to mean a royal or noble retinue. Courting someone's affection took its meaning from this setting: to pay attention to a person at court was to seek their favor, and that sense of seeking favor produced the "courting" meaning and the broader idea of trying to win something by deliberate effort. The judicial sense grew from the same royal household, since justice was administered in the presence of the lord's court.

Synonyms: tribunals, judiciaries, courthouses, law courts, courtrooms

Antonyms: lawlessness, anarchy, disorder, chaos, dissension