Curtilage is a fancy legal term for the enclosed land that surrounds a building and belongs with it as part of the same property.
The term comes from the Old French word cortil, meaning a "little court, walled garden or yard." It's an important legal distinction for many reasons: in some American states evidence improperly gathered from the curtilage of a property is considered as inadmissible as that gathered from the property itself. In other cases, a property owner may legally defend himself against home invasion within the curtilage of his property, not just within the building itself. Now you too could have a part on "Law & Order."
