courtesan
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: note: UK, non-rhotic
ipa: /kɔːtɪˈzæn/
note: UK, non-rhotic
ipa: /ˈkɔːtɪzæn/
note: UK, non-rhotic
ipa: /ˈkɔːtɪzən/
note: UK, rhotic
ipa: /kɔɹtɪˈzæn/
note: UK, rhotic
ipa: /ˈkɔɹtɪzæn/
note: UK, rhotic
ipa: /ˈkɔɹtɪzən/
ipa: /ˈkɔɹtɪzən/
ipa: /ˈkɔɹtɪzæn/
ipa: /ˈkoɹtɪzən/
ipa: /ˈkoɹtɪzæn/
Forms: form: courtesans
form: courtezan
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French courtisane, from Italian cortigiana, feminine of cortigiano (“courtier”), from corte (“court”), itself from Latin cohors.
Senses: examples: text: What wine, what drug, what philtre known of man / Will drown this ancient foe, / Ruthless and ravenous as a courtesan, / Sure as an ant, and slow?
ref: 1909, Charles Baudelaire, “The Irreparable”, in John Collings Squire, transl., Poems and Baudelaire Flowers:
text: In the notes he wrote for Nana, his novel about a courtesan in Second Empire Paris, Zola imagined ‘a whole society hurling itself’ at her body, ‘a pack of hounds after a bitch, who is not even on heat and makes fun of the hounds following her’. This might also describe the life of Harriette Wilson, whose unguarded pursuit by the leaders of the British aristocracy, the army, the government and opposition made her the most desired, and then the most dangerous, woman in Regency London.
ref: 2014, Frances Wilson, The Courtesan's Revenge, Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 10:
synonyms: word: abandons
word: alley cat
word: almah
word: bangtail
word: Bankside lady
word: bargirl
word: bat
word: beotch
word: blouze
word: blowen
word: blowsabella
word: brass nail
word: brasser
word: brass
word: broad
word: business girl
word: calico queen
word: callet
word: cat
word: chippy
word: chromo
word: coaster
word: cockatrice
word: cocotte
word: comfort girl
word: comfort woman
word: commoner
word: Covent Garden nun
word: creature of the night
word: croshabell
word: daughter of joy
word: dollymop
word: doxy
word: drab
word: Dutch widow
word: escort
word: fille de joie
word: flap
word: floozie
word: fornicatrix
word: frail sister
word: Fulham virgin
word: gamester
word: gay lady
word: geebag
word: gillian
word: gill
word: girl rented overnight
word: good-time girl
word: GRO
word: hackney
word: harlot
word: Haymarket ware
word: hireling
word: 'ho
word: hoer
word: hoe
word: hook
word: hooker
word: hustler
word: Japayuki-san
word: jay
word: karayuki-san
word: KTV girl
word: laced mutton
word: lady of leisure
word: lady of light virtue
word: lady of pleasure
word: lady of the evening
word: lady of the night
word: lightskirt
word: loose woman
word: lot lizard
word: meat puppet
word: meretrix
word: mermaid
word: minx
word: mob
word: moll
word: mort wap-apace
word: mot
word: mud kicker
word: mud-kicker
word: mudkicker
word: musk cat
word: mutton
word: nun
word: nymph of darkness
word: nymph of the pavé
word: nymph of the pavement
word: painted lady
word: Paphian
word: party girl
word: pavement princess
word: perdita
word: pimpette
word: pretty horsebreaker
word: priestess of Venus
word: pro skirt
word: prossie
word: prossy
word: pross
word: prostie
word: prostitute
word: prostitutor
word: prosty
word: prozzie
word: prozzy
word: pro
word: public woman
word: pucelle
word: puella publica
word: pug
word: punk
word: pussygirl
word: puta
word: put
word: quail
word: quean
word: quene
word: quiff
word: ribibe
word: scrubber
word: sex labourer
word: sex worker
word: skainsmate
word: skivvy
word: slag
word: slapper
word: slit
word: slut
word: sodomitess
word: soiled dove
word: stem siren
word: stew
word: street taco
word: strumpet
word: succubus
word: Suzi Wong
word: Suzie Wong
word: Suzy Wong
word: tart
word: tawaif
word: thotty
word: thot
word: tib
word: tom
word: treddle
word: trick turner
word: trollop
word: trug
word: trull
word: tweak
word: vice girl
word: wanton
word: wapping dell
word: wapping moll
word: wapping mort
word: wench
word: whore
word: woman of easy virtue
word: woman of ill fame
word: woman of ill repute
word: woman of the night
word: woman of the street
word: woman of the town
word: working girl
glosses: A female prostitute, especially one with high-status or wealthy clients.
glosses: The mistress of a royal or noble.
glosses: A woman of a royal or noble court.
examples: text: The courtesan moves like a mann, but whatever piece captures her is also removed from the board (unless it’s a king).
ref: 2018 October 12, aabicus, “My 7 Favorite Fairy Chess Pieces”, in The Daily SPUF:
topics: board-games
chess
games
glosses: A fairy chess piece that can move to any adjacent square, that, when captured, the capturing piece is also eliminated.
Derived terms: courtesanship