COURTESY • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Courtesy

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/kˈərtəsi/ Listen

noun

Courtesy n. (pl. courtesies)

Politeness; civility; urbanity; courtliness. "And trust thy honest-offered courtesy, With oft is sooner found in lowly sheds, With smoky rafters, than in tapestry walls And courts of princes, where it first was named, And yet is most pretended." "Pardon me, Messer Claudio, if once more I use the ancient courtesies of speech."

An act of civility or respect; an act of kindness or favor performed with politeness. "My lord, for your many courtesies I thank you."

Favor or indulgence, as distinguished from right; as, a title given one by courtesy.

Courtesy title, a title assumed by a person, or popularly conceded to him, to which he has no valid claim; as, the courtesy title of Lord prefixed to the names of the younger sons of noblemen.

Synonyms: Politeness; urbanity; civility; complaisance; affability; courteousness; elegance; refinement; courtliness; good breeding. See Politeness.

Courtesy n. (Written also curtsy and curtsey) An act of civility, respect, or reverence, made by women, consisting of a slight depression or dropping of the body, with bending of the knees. "The lady drops a courtesy in token of obedience, and the ceremony proceeds as usual."

verb

Courtesy v. t. To treat with civility. (Obs.)

Courtesy v. i. (past & past part. courtesied; pres. part. courtesying) To make a respectful salutation or movement of respect; esp. (with reference to women), to bow the body slightly, with bending of the knes.

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Etymology of 'Courtesy'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Courtesy" Quotes from Famous Books

... getting the meal that we called by courtesy "supper"; and within half an hour had disposed of it, and were waiting patiently for whatever was to come. But while it was still calm and light I had the mast stepped, and sent the sailmaker aloft to take a good, comprehensive ...

— Turned Adrift • Harry Collingwood

... yet, at the same time, easy demeanour of the Earl of Etherington, who was equal to any man in England in the difficult art of putting a good countenance on a bad cause. He met Tyrrel with an air as unembarrassed, as it was cold; and, while he paid the courtesy of a formal and distant salutation, he said aloud, "I presume, Mr. Tyrrel de Martigny, that, since you have not thought fit to avoid this awkward meeting, you are disposed to remember our family connexion so far as to avoid making sport for ...

— St. Ronan's Well • Sir Walter Scott

... part of the table, Shrove Tuesday was helping the Second of September to some broth, which courtesy the latter returned with the delicate thigh of a pheasant. The Last of Lent was springing upon Shrovetide's pancakes; April Fool, seeing this, told him that he did well, for pancakes were ...

— Eighth Reader • James Baldwin

... skies—and all around him, the remains of antiquity in a thousand elegant, or venerable, or fanciful forms: he could not have chosen a more genial spot for inspiration. Though we disturbed his poetical reveries rather abruptly, he met us with his usual amiable courtesy, and conversed most delightfully. I never knew him more pleasant, and never saw him ...

— The Diary of an Ennuyee • Anna Brownell Jameson

... eyes and open mouth, while the earnestness of his inward thoughts was clearly demonstrated now and then by an irrepressible,—almost triumphant,—cornet-blast from that trifling elevation of his countenance called by courtesy a nose, when his blissful reverie was suddenly broken in upon by the sound of several footsteps crunching slowly along the garden path, and, starting up from his chair, he perceived four individuals clad in white flannel ...

— Thelma • Marie Corelli

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