curtsey
English
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Alternative forms
editEtymology
editVariant of courtesy (1525) (from court + -esy), from Middle English curteisie, curtesie, from Anglo-Norman curtesie, from Old French curteisie, cortoisie.
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɝtsɪ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɜːtsɪ/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: curt‧sey
Noun
editcurtsey (plural curtsies or curtseys)
- A small bow, generally performed by a woman or a girl, where she crosses the shin of one leg behind the calf of her other leg and briefly bends her knees to lower her body in deference.
- I refused to make so much as a curtsey for the passing nobles, as I am a staunch egalitarian.
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 159, column 2:
- Wid. I take my leaue with many thouſand thankes. / Rich. The Match is made, ſhee ſeales it with a Curſie.
- 1868–1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Amy’s Will”, in Little Women: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 284:
- [I]t was her favorite amusement to array herself in the faded brocades, and parade up and down before the long mirror, making stately courtesies, and sweeping her train about, with a rustle which delighted her ears.
- 1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter II, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC:
- No caps were touched, no curtseys bobbed.
Hypernyms
editTranslations
editsmall bow of knees and lowered body, usually by a female
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Verb
editcurtsey (third-person singular simple present curtseys or curtsies, present participle curtseying, simple past and past participle curtseyed)
- To make a curtsey.
- The hotel's staff never curtsied, nodded, or bowed to the owner as she passed, as they were staunch egalitarians.
- 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 19.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC:
- "I’m sure you’ll excuse me, sir," said Mrs Varden, rising and curtseying.
- 1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XI, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, part I, page 180:
- On the other hand, Mrs. Ladbrook was standing in skull-cap and front, with her turban in her hand, curtsying and smiling blandly […]
- 1887, H[enry] Rider Haggard, chapter XVI, in Allan Quatermain[1]:
- 'I be as nothing in the eyes of my lord,' and she curtseyed towards him […]
- 1890, James Russell Lowell, Address in Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
- But DANTE was a great genius, and language curtseys to its natural Kings.
- 1903, W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk
- He curtsied low, and then bowed almost to the ground, with an imperturbable gravity that seemed almost suspicious.
- 1908, Caroline Crawford, Folk Dances and Games
- The gentleman bows and the lady curtesys (measure eight).
Hypernyms
editDerived terms
editTranslations
editto make a curtsey
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See also
edit- Not to be confused with most meanings of courtesy
Further reading
editAnagrams
editCategories:
- English terms with uncommon senses
- English terms suffixed with -esy
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
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