courtly
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkɔːtli/
ipa: /ˈkɔɹtli/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tli
Forms: form: courtlier
form: courtliest
Etymology: From Middle English courtly, equivalent to court + -ly.
Senses: examples: text: He swept off his hat and made a deep courtly bow.
text: The troubadours sang songs about courtly love.
text: Corin: You have too courtly a wit for me; I’ll rest.
ref: c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
text: […] you must give men of Quality leave to speak in a Language more Gentile and Courtly than the ordinary sort of mankind.
ref: 1682, Aphra Behn, “The Roundheads or, The Good Old Cause”, in et al., London: D. Brown, act III, scene 1, page 23:
text: He is a Master of Civility, no less well-bred to his own Sex than courtly to the other.
ref: 1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book 3”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 11:
text: As they abased themselves before him, Mr. Micawber took a seat, and waved his hand in his most courtly manner.
ref: 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 17, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 183:
text: Their voices, the gestures of their refined grimy hands, were unbelievably courtly, delicate. Their carriage suggested the majesty of Aztec princes, their faces obscure sculpturings on Yucatecan ruins.
ref: 1947, Malcolm Lowry, chapter 1, in Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 11:
synonyms: refined
dignified
genteel
well-mannered
glosses: Befitting of a royal court; reflecting the manners or behaviour of people at court.
examples: text: She tried to remain aloof from courtly intrigues.
text: in houres secure from courtly strife
ref: a. 1627, John Beaumont, “Horat. Lib. 2. Sat. 6.”, in Bosworth-Field with a Taste of the Variety of Other Poems, London: Henry Seile, page 40:
text: The rich are in general slaves to fear, and submit to courtly power with the trembling duplicity of a spaniel.
ref: 1776, Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Philadelphia, page 40:
text: He had for years held some clerical office appertaining to courtly matters, which had enabled him to live in London,
ref: 1857, Anthony Trollope, chapter 3, in Barchester Towers, volume 1, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, page 30:
glosses: Of or relating to a royal court.
examples: text: Here FLATT’RY, eldest born of guile,
Weaves with rare skill the silken smile,
The courtly cringe, the supple bow,
The private squeeze, the Levee vow,
ref: 1763, Charles Churchill, “The Duellist”, in et al., London: G. Kearsly, Book 3, p. 29:
text: That judgment James had notoriously obtained […] by dismissing scrupulous magistrates, and by placing on the bench other magistrates more courtly.
ref: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 152:
synonyms: flattering
obsequious
servile
glosses: Overly eager to please or obey.
Derived terms: courtlily
courtliness
courtly love
uncourtly
Related terms: courteous
courtlike