courteous

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English curteis, also corteis and cortais,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman curteis, also curtois, and corteis (“courtly, graciously polite”),^[6][3][2][7] now courtois.^[6][2][7] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1136, meaning courteous or courtly, and also, as a noun, a courtier or nobleman.^[8] It is formed from cort (“court”), also curt, the source of court, and the suffix -eis, from Latin -ēnsis;^[6][2][3] Hoad traces it to a Romance form, *cortensis.^[7] The Oxford Dictionary of English bases it ultimately on cohors (“yard, retinue”), the source of cohort.^[9][10] The modern ending is a 16th-century remodelling after adjectives in -eous.^{[6][7][11][9]} The same Romance adjective gave Old Occitan cortes, Spanish cortés (13th century) and Italian cortese (12th century).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, having refined manners such as suit a royal court; graciously polite and considerate: before 1300, in the Vision of Saint Paul.^[6] Etymonline dates curteis to about 1300, and Barnhart to before 1300;^[2][3] Barnhart also notes that the word was rare before 1500.^[2][3] Curteis is found earlier as a given name and surname (1130, 1166, 1168), though these probably reflect the Anglo-Norman word.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word arose because medieval courts were associated with good manners;^[10] in feudal society it also described a man of good education, whence the surname Curtis.^[2] Etymonline compares German hübsch (“beautiful”), from Middle High German hübesch, which first meant courteous or well-bred and is formed from the word for a court.^[2] In Middle English the sense depended on rank: of a superior it meant gracious or benevolent (about 1300 to 1813), and of an inferior, deferential, as in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (about 1405 to 1475).^[6][11] From before 1375 it was used of speech and behaviour as well as of people, and as a polite form of address, now archaic.^[6] Its literary use for personified things is first recorded in Tyndale's Bible of 1526, at 1 Corinthians 13:4.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined it as elegant of manners, polite and well-bred.^[12] The noun use, a courteous person, died out about 1540, but the courteous, courteous people, is recorded from 1580.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1300 – of a person, having courtly manners; polite and considerate.^[6][3]
• c. 1300 – of a superior, gracious, benevolent (obsolete by 1813).^[6]
• before 1375 – of speech or behaviour, showing courtesy; as a polite form of address.^[6]
• before 1393 – noun, a courteous or good person, in Gower (obsolete by 1540).^[6]
• before 1398 – courteous to someone, in Trevisa.^[6]
• c. 1405 – of an inferior, deferential, in Chaucer (obsolete by 1475).^[6]
• 16th century – the ending -eous replaces -eis.^[7][11]
• 1526 – of personified things, in Tyndale's Bible.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Polite, respectful and considerate towards others in manner or speech: The receptionist was courteous to every caller.^[13][4][6]
2. Marked by the polished manners or gallantry of a court; courtly.^[4][6]
3. (obsolete, 1300–1813) Of a person of higher rank, gracious or benevolent.^[6][11]

Word family

• courteously
• courteousness
• overcourteous
• discourteous
• uncourteous

Related words

• courtesy
• court
• cohort
• courtier
• courtly
• curtsy

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins