Instigate proceedings at court? (5)
I believe the answer is:
serve
'court?' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with social activities as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for serve that I've seen before include "Be adequate; put ball in play" , "Milton 'They also . . . . . who only stand and wait'" , "Distribute" , "Work for, be of use to" , "Be useful to" .)