'court-based' originates from modern English by combining the noun 'court' and the past-participle adjective 'based' (from 'base'), where 'court' referred to a place for deliberation or judgment and 'based' meant 'having a base or being established'.

'court' comes into English via Old French 'court' (from Latin 'cohors' meaning 'enclosure, retinue'), and 'base' (giving 'based') comes from Old French/Latin roots (Old French 'baser' / Latin/Greek roots related to 'basis'/'bassus'); the compound 'court-based' is a modern English formation combining these elements to mean 'established at a court'.

Initially the elements referred separately to a 'court' (place of judgment) and being 'based' (having a base); over time the compound came to mean 'located in or operating from a court' and 'relating to court processes'.