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Does the legal usage of the word court as in a court of law derive from the idea of a royal court, as an expression of the idea that the original courts of law were ultimately simple vehicles for the exercise or discharge of royal authority on behalf of the royal sovereign?

If not, then what is the origin of the use of the word court to denote the judicial institutions that we call courts of law?

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Does the legal usage of the word court as in a court of law derive from the idea of a royal court, as an expression of the idea that the original courts of law were ultimately simple vehicles for the exercise or discharge of royal authority on behalf of the royal sovereign?

Yes:

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....

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  • Holding a court wasn't restricted to the king; any random baron could hold a court.
    – Simon Crase
    Commented Aug 10, 2023 at 6:51
  • When King Henry II set up his own courts, they functioned as a appeal from the baronial courts. Much of the judge's powers come from the fact that he was exercising the authority of the King: the ability to compel people to attend and testify, the ability to force people in the court to leave their thugs at home (he had his own thugs), habeas corpus.
    – Simon Crase
    Commented Aug 10, 2023 at 6:56

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