Definition of "courtship"

(countable, uncountable) The act of paying court, that is, demonstrating such politeness and respect as is traditionally given at a court (“a formal assembly of a sovereign's retinue”).

1. (obsolete) The ceremonial performance of acts of courtesy to a dignitary, etc.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Our ſelfe and Buſhie, / Obſerued his courtſhip to the common people, / How he did ſeeme to diue into their harts, / With humble and familiar courteſie, / What reuerence he did throw away on ſlaues, [...]

     1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, [Act I, scene iv]

   • So reverend Juno headlong flew, and 'gainst her stomach striv'd. / For (being amongst th' immortal gods, in high heaven, soon arriv'd, / All rising, welcoming with with cups her little absence then) / She all their courtships overpast with solemn negligence, / Save that which fair-cheek'd Themis show'd, and her kind cup she took: [...]The spelling has been modernized.

     , Homer, “Book XV”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter; The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, page 51

   • The Magistrate whose Charge is to see to our Persons, and Estates, is to bee honour'd with a more elaborate and personall Courtship, with large Salaries and Stipends, that hee himselfe may abound in those things whereof his legall justice and watchfull care gives us the quiet enjoyment.

     1641 May, John Milton, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Cavvses that hitherto have Hindred it; republished as Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, 2nd book, page 62

2. The act of wooing a person to enter into a romantic relationship or marriage; hence, the period during which a couple fall in love before their marriage.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • More validitie, / More honourable ſtate, more courtſhip liues / In carrion flyes, than Romeo: they may ſeaze / On the white wonder of faire Iuliets skinne, / And ſteale immortall kiſſes from her lips; / But Romeo may not, he is baniſhed.

     c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, [Act II, scene ii]

   • Be merry, and employ your cheefeſt thoughts / To Courtſhip, and ſuch faire oſtents of loue, / As ſhall conueniently become you there.

     c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, [Act II, scene viii]

   • The pleasantest part of a man's life is generally that which passes in courtship, provided his passion be sincere, and the party beloved kind with discretion.

     1712 January 9 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SATURDAY, December 29, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 261; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, page 301

   • [T]he friend's father and mother were quite agreeable to her being married, and the whole courtship was in consequence as flat and common-place as it was possible to imagine.

     1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Of Miss Squeers, Mrs. Squeers, Master Squeers, and Mr. Squeers; and Various Matters and Persons Connected No Less with the Squeerses than with Nicholas Nickleby”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, page 79

   • Their courtship passed as something instantly forgotten, like an enchantment, or a mistake.

     1968, John Updike, Couples (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf; republished as Couples‎, London, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 2007,

3. (by extension) The behaviour exhibited by an animal to attract a mate.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Theſe bellowing exploſions [of the bittern] are chiefly heard from the beginning of ſpring to the end of autumn; and, however awful they may ſeem to us, are the calls to courtſhip, or of connubial felicity.

     1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of the Bittern or Mire-drum”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume VI, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], part V (Of Birds of the Crane Kind), page 2

4. (figuratively) The act of trying to solicit a favour or support from someone.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • His head grows fevered, and his pulse / The quick successive throbs convulse; / In vain from side to side he throws / His form, in courtship of repose; [...]

     1816 February 13, [Lord Byron], “The Siege of Corinth”, in The Siege of Corinth. A Poem. Parisina. A Poem, London: […] [T[homas] Davison] for John Murray, […], stanza XIII, page 20, lines 287–290

(countable, uncountable, obsolete) Elegance or propriety of manners fitting for a court; courtliness; (by extension) courteous or polite behaviour; courtesy.  quotations

(uncountable, obsolete) The pursuit of being a courtier, such as exercising diplomacy, finesse, etc.; also, the artifices and intrigues of a court; courtcraft.  quotations