cortese

Forms

cortese m or f by sense (plural cortesi, superlative cortesissimo)^[1] Old spellings include Old Italian cortexe and Old Italian corteis.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Occitan cortes (“of the (feudal) court”), from cort (“court”).^[3][4][5][6] GRADIT, Treccani and DEI instead treat it as a derivative of corte with -ese, comparing the Occitan word and Old French corteis, recorded in the 12th century.^[7][8][9] Either way it is the word of the court culture that came from Provence and France.^[4][9]

The noun comes from Latin cohors (“enclosure; troop”).^[3][4] The Latin word passed from “troop” to “bodyguard”, and then to a lord's household and estate.^[3][4] It is formed with the prefix co- on the root of Latin hortus (“enclosure, garden”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Contrasto of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, about 1190, a dialogue in which a Genoese woman speaks.^[2] In the 13th century Chiaro Davanzati uses the word for “of the court”, and the Proverbia super natura feminarum for “gentle, well-mannered”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was “living at court, noble”, which grew into the whole set of courtly virtues: good manners, moral worth, fine speech, beauty and good company, said above all of the beloved lady and even of the Virgin.^[2] From these came the sense “generous, liberal” (Dante, before 1321).^[3][2] Dante greets Virgil as O anima cortese mantovana, and Ariosto opens a canto with Cortesi donne ebbe l'antiqua etade.^[10][7]

Over time the word lost its tie with the court and came to mean simply polite and kind, the main sense today.^[11][7] In literary history amor cortese and poesia cortese are the love and the poetry of the feudal courts of the 12th and 13th centuries, and armi cortesi were tournament weapons made not to wound, hence ad armi cortesi, “with courtesy towards an opponent”.^[12][13] German höflich, from Hof (“court”), went the same way.^[9]

Since the 20th century cortese has also been a white grape of Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria and the dry wine made from it.^[5][7]

Timeline

• About 1190 – Raimbaut de Vaqueiras's Contrasto has the first record.^[2]
• 13th century – Chiaro Davanzati uses cortese for “of the court”.^[3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “generous”.^[3]
• Before 1987 – The wine is recorded as cortese.^[5][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. polite, courteous, kind in manner: il commesso è stato molto cortese con noi.^[7][5][6]
2. Showing politeness or kindness: una risposta cortese; in business letters con cortese sollecitudine, “at your early convenience”.^[7][12][13]
3. (historical) courtly: having the qualities of courtly life in the Middle Ages: amor cortese (courtly love), poesia cortese.^[7][14][13]
4. (literary) generous, liberal, especially with advice or help.^[7][6][8]

Noun

1. A white grape variety grown in Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria, and the dry white wine made from it.^[5][14][8]

Word family

• cortesia
• scortese
• cortesemente
• corteseggiare
• discortese

Related words

• corte
• cortigiano
• corteggiare
• French courtois
• Latin cohors

Usage notes

GRADIT has a separate cortese from the 20th century, “of Corte”, from the name of a place in the province of Imperia, also used as a noun for the people who live there.^[7] The opposite is scortese.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1126
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
13. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli