[It. cortile ‘court or yard of a house’ (Florio), deriv. of corte COURT.] (In Italy.) An enclosed area or court-yard within or attached to a building: usually roofless or surrounded with a covered walk; occasionally roofed; sometimes serving as a hall or court of entrance, as in some Italian churches.
1841. Penny Cycl., XX. 75/2. The cortile of the Palazzo Piccolomini at Siena.
1875. H. James, R. Hudson, xi. 403. Within, it [an Italian villa] had a great, cool, gray cortile, with high, light arches around it.
1884. Horner, Florence, I. xxvi. 370. The central door under the portico opens on the cortile or court of entrance.
