Court of Saint James's
- proper noun
- UK
:
Corte de San Jaime
- The ambassador presented her credentials to the Court of Saint James's last week.
Examples
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The ambassador presented his credentials to the Court of Saint James's.
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Diplomats from across the world are accredited to the Court of Saint James's.
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It is traditional for foreign envoys to be received by the monarch at the Court of Saint James's.
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Many important decisions are made at the Court of Saint James's.
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Ambassadors from various countries are officially recognized at the Court of Saint James's.
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The new ambassador presented his credentials at the historic Court of Saint James's.
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Foreign dignitaries are often received by the monarch at the Court of Saint James's.
Synonyms
5
4.1
A group of people who serve and advise a king or queen, like family and nobles
Surface Forms
Morphology
The combination of 'court' with the place-name 'Saint James's' makes it reasonably clear to a B1 learner that this is a court associated with Saint James (i.e., a named royal or historical court). However, the specialised diplomatic sense — the formal institution to which ambassadors are accredited — is culturally specific and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so full meaning requires extra knowledge or exposure.
Etymology
Court of Saint James's comes from Saint James's Palace in London, where the king or queen's court met long ago. Because ambassadors were officially sent to that palace, today Court of Saint James's means the official royal court 'to which ambassadors are sent'.