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courtship.

The act of paying court, that is, demonstrating such politeness and respect as is traditionally given at a court (“a formal assembly of a sovereign's retinue”).

9 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈkɔːt.ʃɪp/Received-Pronunciation/ˈkɔɹt.ʃɪp/General-American
  1. The act of paying court, that is, demonstrating such politeness and respect as is traditionally given at a court (“a formal assembly of a sovereign's retinue”). The ceremonial performance of acts of courtesy to a dignitary, etc.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  2. The act of paying court, that is, demonstrating such politeness and respect as is traditionally given at a court (“a formal assembly of a sovereign's retinue”). The act of wooing a person to enter into a romantic relationship or marriage; hence, the period during which a couple fall in love before their marriage.

    countable · uncountable
  3. The act of paying court, that is, demonstrating such politeness and respect as is traditionally given at a court (“a formal assembly of a sovereign's retinue”). The behaviour exhibited by an animal to attract a mate.

    broadly · countable · uncountable
  4. The act of paying court, that is, demonstrating such politeness and respect as is traditionally given at a court (“a formal assembly of a sovereign's retinue”). The act of trying to solicit a favour or support from someone.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
  5. Elegance or propriety of manners fitting for a court; courtliness; (by extension) courteous or polite behaviour; courtesy.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  6. The pursuit of being a courtier, such as exercising diplomacy, finesse, etc.; also, the artifices and intrigues of a court; courtcraft.

    obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From court (“demonstration of such respect as is traditionally given at court; attention directed to a person in power; behaviour designed to gain favour; politeness of manner; civility towards someone”) + -ship (suffix forming nouns indicating a property or state of being).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.