Editing Court (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Riigikohus.jpg|thumb|The building of the [[Supreme Court of Estonia]] in [[Tartu]]]]
The word ''court'' comes from the French {{lang|fr|cour}}, an enclosed yard, which derives from the Latin form {{lang |la|cōrtem}}, the accusative case of {{lang |la|cohors}}, which again means an enclosed yard or the occupants of such a yard. The English word ''court'' is thus a descendant of the Latin word {{lang |la|hortus}} from Ancient Greek {{lang |grc |χόρτος}} ({{lang |grc-Latn |khórtos}}) (meaning "garden", hence horticulture and orchard), both referring to an enclosed space.<ref name=OEtD>{{cite web|last1=Harper|first1=Douglas|title=court (n.)|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=court|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=21 May 2015}}</ref>

The meaning of a judicial assembly is first attested in the 12th century, and derives from the earlier usage to designate a sovereign and his entourage, which met to adjudicate disputes in such an enclosed yard. The verb "to court", meaning to win favor, derives from the same source since people traveled to the sovereign's court to win his favor.<ref name=OEtD /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/cour|title=COUR : Etymologie de COUR|website=Cnrtl.fr|access-date=23 December 2017}}</ref>

The term ''the court'' is used to refer to the [[Chairman|presiding officer]] or officials, usually one or more [[judge]]s. The judge or panel of judges may also be collectively referred to as "the [[Bench (law)|bench]]" (in contrast to [[Attorney at law|attorneys]] and [[barrister]]s, collectively referred to as "the [[Bar (law)|bar]]").<ref>See generally {{usc|28|1}}: "The Supreme Court of the United States ''shall consist'' of a ''Chief Justice'' of the United States and ''eight associate justices'' [ . . . ]" (italics added); {{uscsub|28|43|b}}: "Each court of appeals ''shall consist'' of the ''circuit judges'' of the circuit in regular active service." (italics added); {{uscsub|28|132|b}} (in part): "Each district court ''shall consist'' of the ''district judge or judges'' for the district in regular active service." (italics added); {{usc|28|151}} (in part): "In each judicial district, the ''bankruptcy judges'' in regular active service ''shall constitute a unit of the district court'' to be known as the bankruptcy court for that district [ . . . ]" (italics added).</ref> In the United States, the legal authority of a court to take action is based on [[personal jurisdiction]] over the parties to the litigation and [[subject-matter jurisdiction]] over the claims asserted.

The system of courts that interprets and applies the [[law]] is collectively known as the ''[[judiciary]]''. The place where a court sits is known as a [[Venue (law)|''venue'']]. The room where court proceedings occur is known as a ''[[courtroom]]'', and the building as a ''[[courthouse]]''; court facilities range from simple and very small facilities in rural communities to large complex facilities in urban communities.