Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COURT'-DRESS-ER, n.

A flatterer. – Locke.

COURT'ED, pp.

Flattered; wooed; solicited in marriage; sought.

COURT'E-OUS, a. [from court; Fr. courtois; It. cortese; Sp. cortes.]

1. Polite; well bred; being of elegant manners; civil; obliging; condescending; applied to persons.
2. Polite; civil; graceful; elegant; complaisant; applied to manners, &c.

COURT'E-OUS-LY, adv.

In a courteous manner; with obliging civility and condescension; complaisantly.

COURT'E-OUS-NESS, n.

Civility of manners; obliging condescension; complaisance.

COURT'ER, n.

One who courts; one who solicits in marriage. – Sherwood.

COURT'E-SAN, n. [kurt'ezan; Fr. courtisane; Sp. cortesana; from court.]

A prostitute; a woman who prostitutes herself for hire, especially to men of rank.

COURT'E-SY, n. [kurt'esy; Fr. courtoisie; Sp. It. cortesia; Port. cortezia; from Fr. courtois, Sp. cortes, courteous, from court.]

1. Elegance or politeness of manners; especially, politeness connected with kindness; civility; complaisance; as, the gentleman shows great courtesy to strangers; he treats his friends with great courtesy.
2. An act of civility or respect; an act of kindness or favor performed with politeness. – Shak. Bacon.
3. The act of civility, respect or reverence, performed by a woman; a fall or inclination of the body, corresponding in design to the bow of a gentleman. – Dryden.
4. A favor; as, to hold upon courtesy, that is, not of right, but by indulgence. Tenure by courtesy or curtesy, is where a man marries a woman seized of an estate of inheritance, and has by her issue born alive, which was capable of inheriting her estate; in this case, on the death of his wife, he holds the lands for his life, as tenant by curtesy. – Blackstone.

COURT'E-SY, v.i.

To perform an act of civility, respect, or reverence, as a woman. Note. This word was formerly applied to the other sex; but is now used only of the acts of reverence or civility, performed by women.

COURT'E-SY, v.t.

To treat with civility. [Not in use.]

COURT'E-SY-ING, ppr.

Making an act of civility or respect, as females.

COURT'-FASH-ION, n.

The fashion of a court. – Fuller.

COURT'-FA-VOR, n.

A favor or benefit bestowed by a court or prince. – L'Estrange.

COURT'-HAND, n.

The hand or manner of writing used in records and judicial proceedings. – Shak.

COURT'-HOUSE, n.

A house in which established courts are held, or a house appropriated to courts and public meetings. – America.

COURT'IER, n. [ko'rtyur; from court.]

1. A man who attends or frequents the courts of princes. – Bacon. Dryden.
2. One who courts or solicits the favor of another; one who flatters to please; one who possesses the art of gaining favor by address and complaisance. There was not among all our princes a greater courtier of the people than Richard III. – Suckling.

COURT'IER-Y, n.

The manners of a courtier. [Not used.] – B. Jonson.

COURT'ING, ppr.

Flattering; attempting to gain by address; wooing; soliciting in marriage.

COURT'-LA-DY, n.

A lady who attends or is conversant in court.

COURT'-LEET, n.

A court of record held once a year, in a particular hundred, lordship or manor, before the steward of the leet. – Blackstone.

COURT'LIKE, a.

Polite; elegant. – Camden.

COURT'LI-NESS, n. [See Courtly.]

Elegance of manners; grace of mien; civility; complaisance with dignity. – Digby.

COURT'LING, n.

A courtier; a retainer to a court. – B. Jonson.

COURT'LY, a. [court and like.]

Relating to a court; elegant; polite with dignity; applied to men and manners; flattering, applied to language. – Pope.

COURT'LY, adv.

In the manner of courts; elegantly, in a flattering manner.