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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A woman prostitute, especially one whose clients are members of a royal court or men of high social standing.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. See courtezan, courtezanship.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A woman of a royal or noble court.
  2. n. The mistress of a royal or noble.
  3. n. A prostitute, especially one with high-status or wealthy clients

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A woman who prostitutes herself for hire; a prostitute; a harlot.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a woman who cohabits with an important man

Etymologies

  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.

Examples

  • “The term courtesan has the added advantage of being politely derogatory enough to make it into mainstream parlance.”

    Firedoglake » A Question That Needs Answers…

  • “It occurred to me recently that the word courtesan would a better term to describe the fawning sycophants who make up the washington establishment these days, media shills, congress, and Demo collaborators.”

    Firedoglake » A Question That Needs Answers…

  • “A courtesan is a mistress of a man of wealth or nobility.”

    Simon & Schuster: Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage

  • “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

  • “to me, maroussia, which i recently wrote about, is more "courtesan" than worth courtesan. courtesan is nice, but not sexy the way maroussia is. i feel maroussia would've been well-named courtesan.”

    Perfume Review: Worth Courtesan and a Prize Draw

  • “C’mell, a girlygirl a kind of courtesan at once intrigues against and falls in love with Lord Jestocost, a representative of the Instrumentality of Mankind, the rulers of human space who deny the rights of those derived from animal stock.”

    Archive 2007-12-01

  • “Hudson Valley's institutional knack for zaniness, of which occasional flashes can be seen in "Hamlet," is given free rein in Kurt Rhoads's circus-themed production of "The Comedy of Errors," in which we meet such cartoonish characters as a magenta-bearded lady (Katie Hartke), an eye-shadowed mermaid in a wheelchair (Valeri Mudek) and a three-breasted courtesan (Maura Clement).”

    The Wall Street Journal: He's a Young Prince in a Jam

  • “Born Jeanne Beaudon in 1868 to a Parisian courtesan, Avril had a tumultuous and abusive childhood.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Lautrec's Odd Partner in Art

  • “Its unscrupulous leader, the astronomer Louis Godin, squandered funds on personal pleasures—including a diamond ring for his courtesan.”

    The Wall Street Journal: An Expedition Without End

  • “She had arrived in the United States young and penniless, and within a year became a courtesan to the wealthy and powerful in the highest strata of New York society.”

    Simon & Schuster: O: A Presidential Novel

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  • Prolagus Cortigiano (man): a courtier
    Cortigiana (woman): a trollop. Jun 13, 2008

‘courtesan’ has been looked up 1438 times, loved by 7 people, added to 38 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 11.