# courtship
## English
### Etymology

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).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈkɔːt.ʃɪp/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈkɔɹt.ʃɪp/
* Audio (Received Pronunciation):(file)
* Hyphenation: court‧ship

### Noun

courtship (countable and uncountable, plural courtships)
* (countable, uncountable) 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”).
** (obsolete) The ceremonial performance of acts of courtesy to a dignitary, etc.
*** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC,:Our ſelfe and Buſhie, / Obſerued his courtſhip to the common people, / How he did ſeeme to diue into their harts, / With humble and familiar courteſie, / What reuerence he did throw away on ſlaues, [...]
*** [1611?], Homer, “Book XV”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC, page 51:So reverend Juno headlong flew, and 'gainst her stomach striv'd. / For (being amongst th' immortal gods, in high heaven, soon arriv'd, / All rising, welcoming with cups her little absence then) / She all their courtships overpast with solemn negligence, / Save that which fair-cheek'd Themis show'd, and her kind cup she took: [...]The spelling has been modernized.
*** 1641 May, John Milton, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Cavvses that hitherto have Hindred it; republished as Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, →OCLC, 2nd book, page 62:The Magistrate whose Charge is to see to our Persons, and Estates, is to bee honour'd with a more elaborate and personall Courtship, with large Salaries and Stipends, that hee himselfe may abound in those things whereof his legall justice and watchfull care gives us the quiet enjoyment.
** 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.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:courtship
*** c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC,:More validitie, / More honourable ſtate, more courtſhip liues / In carrion flyes, than Romeo: they may ſeaze / On the white wonder of faire Iuliets skinne, / And ſteale immortall kiſſes from her lips; / But Romeo may not, he is baniſhed.
*** c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC,:Be merry, and employ your cheefeſt thoughts / To Courtſhip, and ſuch faire oſtents of loue, / As ſhall conueniently become you there.
*** 1712 January 9 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SATURDAY, December 29, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 261; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 301:The pleasantest part of a man's life is generally that which passes in courtship, provided his passion be sincere, and the party beloved kind with discretion.The spelling has been modernized.
*** 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Of Miss Squeers, Mrs. Squeers, Master Squeers, and Mr. Squeers; and Various Matters and Persons Connected No Less with the Squeerses than with Nicholas Nickleby”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 79:[T]he friend's father and mother were quite agreeable to her being married, and the whole courtship was in consequence as flat and common-place as it was possible to imagine.
*** 1968, John Updike, Couples (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished as Couples‎, London, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 2007, →ISBN:Their courtship passed as something instantly forgotten, like an enchantment, or a mistake.
** (by extension) The behaviour exhibited by an animal to attract a mate.
*** 1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of the Bittern or Mire-drum”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume VI, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC, part V (Of Birds of the Crane Kind), page 2:Theſe bellowing exploſions [of the bittern] are chiefly heard from the beginning of ſpring to the end of autumn; and, however awful they may ſeem to us, are the calls to courtſhip, or of connubial felicity.
** (figuratively) The act of trying to solicit a favour or support from someone.
*** 1816 February 13, [Lord Byron], “The Siege of Corinth”, in The Siege of Corinth. A Poem. Parisina. A Poem, London: […] [T[homas] Davison] for John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza XIII, page 20, lines 287–290:His head grows fevered, and his pulse / The quick successive throbs convulse; / In vain from side to side he throws / His form, in courtship of repose; [...]
* (countable, uncountable, obsolete) Elegance or propriety of manners fitting for a court; courtliness; (by extension) courteous or polite behaviour; courtesy.
** c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC; republished as Shakspere’s Loves Labours Lost (Shakspere-Quarto Facsimiles; no. 5), London: W[illiam] Griggs, […], [1880], →OCLC,:King. How Madame? Ruſsians? / Quee[n]. I [i.e., ay] in trueth My Lord. / Trim gallants, full of Courtſhip and of ſtate.
* (uncountable, obsolete) The pursuit of being a courtier, such as exercising diplomacy, finesse, etc.; also, the artifices and intrigues of a court; courtcraft.
** 1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. […]‎, London: […] [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, […], →OCLC:The Frenchman (not altered from his owne nature) is wholly compact of deceivable courtship, and (for the most part) loues none but himselfe and his pleasure: yet though he be the most Grand Signeur of them all, he will say, A vostre service et commandemente monsieur [at your service and command, monsieur], to the meanest vassaile he meetes.

#### Derived terms

* courtship display
* precourtship

#### Related terms

* court
* courting
* courtliness
* courtly

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “courtship, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1893; “courtship, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Further reading

* courtship on Wikipedia.Wikipedia