Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act, process, or period of courting.
- noun Zoology Specialized behavior in animals that leads to or initiates mating.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of paying court to dignitaries, especially for the purpose of gaining favors; the paying of interested respect and attention; the practices of a courtier.
- noun The wooing of a woman; the series of attentions paid by a man to a woman for the purpose of gaining her love and ultimately her hand in marriage, or the mutual interest engendered and avowed between them, antecedent to a declaration of love or an engagement of marriage.
- noun Courtly behavior; refinement; elegance of manners, speech, etc., such as is becoming at court.
- noun Political artifice; court policy; finesse.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of paying court, with the intent to solicit a favor.
- noun The act of wooing in love; solicitation of woman to marriage.
- noun obsolete Courtliness; elegance of manners; courtesy.
- noun obsolete Court policy; the character of a courtier; artifice of a court; court-craft; finesse.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The act of paying
court , with the intent to solicit a favor. - noun The act of
wooing in love; solicitation of woman tomarriage . - noun Courtliness; elegance of manners; courtesy.
- noun Court policy; the character of a courtier; artifice of a court; court-craft; finesse.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a man's courting of a woman; seeking the affections of a woman (usually with the hope of marriage)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"'That's what I call courtship at long taw,' s 'I."'Yes, Miss Jane,' se 'she,' it is, and I'm in a great deal of trouble about Jack.
Mingo And Other Sketches in Black and White Joel Chandler Harris 1878
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The more formalized process of courtship is completely alien to me. das memsen replied to comment from bkad
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Long courtship is a price paid for increasing the chance that mating, if it occurs, will be a harmonious match which benefits both sexes.
My review of the True Jive Pluckers... ewillett 2009
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The answer, he says, seems to be that longer courtship is a way for the female to acquire information about the male: the new mathematical model shows that an extended courtship enables females to screen out males who are unsuitable to mate with -- and give males an opportunity to signal that, no, in fact they are very suitable.
My review of the True Jive Pluckers... ewillett 2009
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Much of the backstory about the Sarah-Shiloh courtship comes from a novella
Jodi Compton Answers Questions About Her First Book, The 37th Hour 2010
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In real life, though, although one hears of whirlwind romances and sudden marriages (often followed by whirlwind separations and sudden divorces) courtship is often a very drawn-out affair.
My review of the True Jive Pluckers... ewillett 2009
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Their courtship is buried, but evidence of Martha and Barend's marriage is clear: 13 children, 12 guided to adulthood.
Belongings: Property, Family, and Identity in Colonial South Africa 2008
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An African electric fish, Brienomyrus brachyistius, uses its weak electric signals in courtship behavior.
Archive 2007-06-01 2007
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Such enamoured public courtship is displayed that it makes me blush even to watch.
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Such enamoured public courtship is displayed that it makes me blush even to watch.
Comments
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