Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Fool \Fool\, n. [OE. fol, n. & adj., F. fol, fou, foolish, mad;
   a fool, prob. fr. L. follis a bellows, wind bag, an inflated
   ball; perh. akin to E. bellows. Cf. {Folly}, {Follicle}.]
   1. One destitute of reason, or of the common powers of
      understanding; an idiot; a natural.

   2. A person deficient in intellect; one who acts absurdly, or
      pursues a course contrary to the dictates of wisdom; one
      without judgment; a simpleton; a dolt.

            Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools. --Milton.

            Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn
            in no other.                          --Franklin.

   3. (Script.) One who acts contrary to moral and religious
      wisdom; a wicked person.

            The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
                                                  --Ps. xiv. 1.

   4. One who counterfeits folly; a professional jester or
      buffoon; a retainer formerly kept to make sport, dressed
      fantastically in motley, with ridiculous accouterments.

            Can they think me . . . their fool or jester?
                                                  --Milton.

   {April fool}, {Court fool}, etc. See under {April}, {Court},
      etc.

   {Fool's cap}, a cap or hood to which bells were usually
      attached, formerly worn by professional jesters.

   {Fool's errand}, an unreasonable, silly, profitless adventure
      or undertaking.

   {Fool's gold}, iron or copper pyrites, resembling gold in
      color.

   {Fool's paradise}, a name applied to a limbo (see under
      {Limbo}) popularly believed to be the region of vanity and
      nonsense. Hence, any foolish pleasure or condition of vain
      self-satistaction.

   {Fool's parsley} (Bot.), an annual umbelliferous plant
      ({[AE]thusa Cynapium}) resembling parsley, but nauseous
      and poisonous.

   {To make a fool of}, to render ridiculous; to outwit; to
      shame. [Colloq.]

   {To play the fool}, to act the buffoon; to act a foolish
      part. ``I have played the fool, and have erred
      exceedingly.'' --1 Sam. xxvi. 21.

Court \Court\ (k?rt), n. [OF. court, curt, cort, F. co?r, LL.
   cortis, fr. L. cohors, cors, chors, gen. cohortis, cortis,
   chortis, an inclosure, court, thing inclosed, crowd, throng;
   co- + a root akin to Gr. ???? 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 the house of our God.      --Ps. cxxxv.
                                                  2.

            And round the cool green courts there ran a row Cf
            cloisters.                            --Tennyson.

            Goldsmith took a garret in a miserable court.
                                                  --Macaulay.

   2. The residence of a sovereign, prince, nobleman, or ether
      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. See{Roll}.

   {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.