courtesan, courtezan

[Fr. court is ane, fem. of court is an =a courtier; Ital. cortegiana; Sp. cortesana; Low Lat. cortesanus.] *1. Originally : One frequenting the court (without any imputation of immorality). "By the wolf, no doubt, was meant the Pope, but the fox was resembled to the prelates, courtesans , priests, and the rest of the spirituality."-Fox: Book of Martyrs (ed. 1641), vol. i., p. 511. 2. Now : A prostitute, a strumpet, a woman of the town. "... being accused to have dre ed her like a courtezan." Boyle: Occas. Reflections; Last Section , Reflect. 1. court-e-san-ship, cöurt-e-zan-ship, s. [Eng. courtesan; -ship.] The character, condition, or arts of a courtesan. court-ě-sỹ, *cortaysye, *corteysye, *courtesee, *courtesie, *curteisie, *curtesie, *kurteisie, s . [O. Fr. cortoisie , curteisie , courtesie ; Fr. cour to i sie; Port. cortezia; Sp. & Ital. cortesia .] [COURTEOUS, CURTSEY.] 1. Courteousne of manners; politene , elegance, civility, good-breeding. " ne he conversed with great courtesy and sprightli.."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xiv. 2. Kindne , complaisance, affability. "I pray you of your curtesie." Chaucer: C. Т., 719. boil, boy; pout, jowl; cat, gell, chorus, 1159 3. An act of politene or civility; a courteous action or behavior. "Sweet looks, by human kindne bred! And seemline complete, that sways Thy courtesies, about thee plays." ESY-TITLE.] Words worth: To a Highland Girl. 4. Indulgence, favor, as opposed to right. [COURT5. A movement of reverence or respect; a curtsey, a bow. (Now confined to women.) "The elephant hath joints, but none for courtesy: his legs are legs for nece ity, not for flexure." --Shakesp.: Troil, and Cre ., ii. 8. (1) By courtesy: By common consent, as a mat ter of courtesy, not of absolute right. (2) Courtesy or curtesy of England : A tenure by which, if a man marry an inheritrix, that is, a woman seized of land, and getteth a child of her that comes alive into the world, though both the child and his wife die forthwith, yet, if she were in po e ion, shall he keep the land during his life, and is called tenant per legem Angliæ , or by the courtesy of England. ( Cowel .) 3. Courtesy of Scotland: Scotlan Scots Law : A similar right to (2), but existing in *cöurt'-ě-sỹ, *cöurt'-sỹ, v. i. &. t. [COURTESY, 8.] A. Intransitive : IMG:content-1177.png:[blocks in formation] "That courtsy to them, do them reverence." Shakesp.: Mer. of Ven., i. 1. (Quartos.) "There was not among all our princes a greater courtier of the people than Richard III.."-Suckling. courtier-like, a. Like or becoming a courtier. *court-1-er-Işm, s. [Eng. courtier; -ism.] The manners or behavior of a courtier. "The perked-up courtierism , and pretentious nullity of many here."-Carlyle: Miscell ., iv. 196. ( Davies .) *cöur'-ti-er-ỹ, s. [Eng.courtier; -y.] The man- ners or actions of a courtier; courtier-like behavior, "In this garb he savors Little of the nicety, In the sprucer courtiery ." "For he is practiz'd well in policie And thereto doth his courting most apply." Spenser: Mother Hubberd's Tale. *court-ledge, s. A corruption of curtilage (q. v.).] An appendage to a house, a curtilage. "A rambling court ledge of barns and walls."-C. Kings. ley: Westward Ho ! ch. xiv.