Definitions
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An act of civility, respect, or reverence, made by women, consisting of a slight depression or dropping of the body, with bending of the knees. Same as 2nd
courtesy , n.. - intransitive verb to perform a
curtsy .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small
bow , generally performed by awoman or agirl , where she crosses one calf of her leg behind the other and briefly bends herknees and lowers her body indeference . - verb To make a curtsey.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun bending the knees; a gesture of respect made by women
- verb bend the knees in a gesture of respectful greeting
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He explained that the word curtsey comes from the word "courtesy."
Margie Goldsmith: Setting A Courteous Guinness World Record In London Margie Goldsmith 2012
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The "curtsey" -- or "courtesy" -- is a feature of the minuet, and revived with the old-fashioned dance.
Etiquette Agnes H. Morton
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‘As you please, young gentleman,’ said the landlady, and then, making a kind of curtsey, she again retired to the side apartment.
Lavengro 2004
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Just as Mrs Jenkins was making a kind of curtsey by the bedside Gladys said that she saw Mr Prothero riding up to the house.
Gladys, the Reaper Anne Beale
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She made a kind of curtsey and began to speak, but no sooner did she see his face than she held her tongue.
Gladys, the Reaper Anne Beale
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Elfrida's little curtsey was not at all the right kind of curtsey, but it had to do.
The House of Arden Edith 1923
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I was so overwhelmed with surprise and awe that I forgot to make the proper response of a "curtsey," but ran home as fast as I could go to proclaim the wonder.
A New England girlhood, outlined from memory (Beverly, MA) Lucy Larcom 1858
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"As you please, young gentleman," said the landlady, and then making a kind of curtsey, she again retired to the side apartment.
Lavengro The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest George Henry Borrow 1842
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"As you please, young gentleman," said the landlady, and then making a kind of curtsey, she again retired to the side apartment.
Lavengro The Scholar - The Gypsy - The Priest, Vol. 2 (of 2) George Henry Borrow 1842
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'As you please, young gentleman,' said the landlady, and then, making a kind of curtsey, she again retired to the side apartment.
Lavengro; the Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest George Henry Borrow 1842
brtom commented on the word curtsey
"If I go to the best room, there I find my host and his story: if I fly to the gallery, there we have my hostess with her curtsey down to the ground. "
Goldsmith, She Stoops, III
January 11, 2007