courtesan
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Your father had the old theory that a courtesan is a being without heart or reason, a sort of machine for coining gold, always ready, like the machine, to bruise the hand that gives her everything, and to tear in pieces, without pity or discernment, those who set her in motion.
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American Heritage Dictionary (1)
- noun A woman prostitute, especially one whose clients are members of a royal court or men of high social standing.
Century Dictionary
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet (1)
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- And she is all the more real because it is France, impure, the country of light loves and immodest passions, where all that is sensual comes to the surface, and the courtesan is the queen of ignoble fancy, that has brought forth this most perfect embodiment of purity among the nations. — Jeanne d'Arc
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Your father had the old theory that a courtesan is a being without heart or reason, a sort of machine for coining gold, always ready, like the machine, to bruise the hand that gives her everything, and to tear in pieces, without pity or discernment, those who set her in motion Your father had written me a very polite letter, in order that I might consent to see him; he did not present himself quite as he had written.
— Camille -
When a courtesan is able to realize much money every day, by reason of many customers, she should not confine herself to a single lover; under such circumstances, she should fix her rate for one night, after considering the place, the season, and the condition of the people, and having regard to her own good qualities and good looks, and after comparing her rates with those of other courtesans.
— The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana Translated From The Sanscrit In Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks -
Your father had the old theory that a courtesan is a being without heart or reason, a sort of machine for coining gold, always ready, like the machine, to bruise the hand that gives her everything, and to tear in pieces, without pity or discernment, those who set her in motion.
— Camille -
At this moment not only had Esther and Lucien devoured all the funds intrusted to the honesty of the banker of the hulks, who, for their sakes, had rendered himself liable to a dreadful calling to account, but the dandy, the forger, and the courtesan were also in debt.
— Scenes from a Courtesan's Life
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View all »Etymologies (2)
American Heritage Dictionary (1)
- French courtisane, from Old French, from Old Italian cortigiana, feminine of cortigiano, courtier, from corte, court, from Latin cohors, cohort-; see gher-1 in Indo-European roots.
Century Dictionary
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
WordNet
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Pronunciations
/ (kôrˈtĭ-zən, kōrˈ-)/
ahd pronounces "courtesan"
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American Heritage Dictionary