courtship

• It was something so new and strange to her to hear the tones of love and courtship, a thing so unusual to be told she was beautiful, that it is not wonderful her head was turned by the new incident, and that she began to think the voice of her lover the sweetest she had ever heard. —  Folk-Lore and Legends: North American Indian
• Latterly, Miss Fanny had had no one to practise upon except Mr Ramsden, during the period of his courtship--a period at which women never appear to so much advantage, nor men appear so silly. —  Newton Forster The Merchant Service
• Shortly after, meeting Hellena in the street, he commences an ardent courtship, which is detected by the jealous Angelica, who has followed him vizarded. —  The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume I
• With most of us the courtship is of long duration. —  Flatland: a romance of many dimensions
• Not through a bringing to life of his rosy dreams of contentment, but in a fellowship that deepens through the maturing of emotional life, must one find the values of either marriage or family life Although the wise use of courtship is the most important preparation for marriage happiness, it is not the only way we clarify and mature the emotions in our efforts to be happily married. —  The Good Housekeeping Marriage Book

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context