释义 |
▪ I. courtly, a.|ˈkɔətlɪ| [f. as prec. + -ly1.] †1. Of, pertaining to, or connected with the Court. Obs.
1484Caxton Curiall 3 The maner of the peple curyall or courtly. 1567Norfolk Let. in Strype Ann. Ref. i. l. 536 Than that I can write any thing of courtly proceedings. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. i. 27 In Courtly company. 1611Coryat Crudities 485 The Courtly Church, where the Prince and his family of the Court heareth divine Service. 1643Prynne Sov. Power Parl. iii. 62 And were his Majestie..attended onely with his Ordinary Courtly Guard. 1786F. Burney Lett. 10 July, I fear you will be so taken up with your courtly attendance, that you will have no leisure. 1882Shorthouse J. Inglesant I. 105 The minion of courtly power. 2. a. Of persons (or their manners): Having the manners or breeding befitting the Court; polished, refined, of a high-bred courtesy.
c1450Crt. of Love 474 Be jolif, fressh, and fete, with thinges newe, Courtly with maner. c1460J. Russell Bk. Nurture 679 Se þat ye haue officers boþe courtly and connynge. 1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 367 Philautus..courteous by nature, and courtly by countenance. 1633Ford Love's Sacr. i. i, The French are passing courtly. 1647–8Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 9 Of a courtly behavour. 1791F. Burney Diary June, I could but accede, though I fear with no very courtly grace. 1852Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life III. xiii. 234 The most courtly gentleman that he has seen in Europe. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. 520 His manners were genial, and even courtly. b. courtly love: a highly conventionalized medieval system of chivalric love and etiquette first developed by the troubadours of southern France and extensively employed in European literature from the 12th century throughout the medieval period. Cf. amour courtois.
1896L. F. Mott Syst. Courtly Love iv. 24 Springing forth in the earliest troubadours,..the sentiments of courtly love attain their full growth in the epics of Chrétien de Troies. Ibid. 27 Courtly love was declared incompatible with marriage. 1899J. H. Smith Troubadours at Home I. iv. 58 Courtly, chivalric love, the gospel of the troubadours,..was love for married women. 1924L. A. Hibbard Med. Romance in Eng. iii. 209 To minds filled with the precepts of courtly love, the fée's command was completely in accord with the insistence of courtly love doctrines on the necessity for secrecy in love. 1933R. Tuve Seasons & Months iv. 157 The..pleasaunces and allegorical fountains of the French courtly-love-garden tradition. 1936C. S. Lewis Alleg. Love i. 2 Courtly love..is..love of a highly specialized sort, whose characteristics may be enumerated as Humility, Courtesy, Adultery, and the Religion of Love. 1963I. Murdoch Unicorn xii. 106 Beauty..commands worship rather than arousing desire. That is the meaning of Courtly Love. 3. Of things: Having the state, elegance, or refinement befitting a court; elegant, refined.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 397 The madynis come in mony courtlie ring. 1557Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 192 His youth, his sport, his pleasant chere, His courtly state and company. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 72 You haue too Courtly a wit, for me. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 362 Many Courtly Barges, both for magnificent shewes and pleasure of the water. a1839Praed Poems (1865) II. 14 Alas! the same caprices reign In courtly hall, or tented plain. 1850Prescott Peru II. 279 The governor..entertained them with a courtly hospitality. 4. a. In bad sense: Characterized by the fair words or flattery of courtiers.
1607Shakes. Timon v. i. 28 To Promise, is most Courtly and fashionable. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. ii. i. 215 In our own [days] (excuse some Courtly stains) No whiter page than Addison remains. 1768H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 78 Truth sometimes escapes from the most courtly pens. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 120 A large and respectable minority voted against the proposed words as too courtly. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 737 A more impudent case of courtly falsehood can hardly be found. b. Disposed to favour or be subservient to the Court.
1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 213 That judgment James had notoriously obtained..by dismissing scrupulous magistrates, and by placing on the bench other magistrates more courtly. Ibid. 225 Convicted by a jury, such as the courtly sheriffs of those times were in the habit of selecting. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 140 He was now essentially aristocratic and courtly in his predilection. ▪ II. ˈcourtly, adv. [f. as prec. + -ly2.] In the manner or style of the Court; in courtly fashion.
a1592Greene James IV (1861) 194 Then will I deck thee princely, instruct thee courtly, and present thee to the queen as my gift. 1668Dryden Ess. Dram. Poetry in Arb. Garner III. 512 They can produce nothing so Courtly writ..as Sir John Suckling. 1866Kingsley Herew. vi. 122 You speak so courtly and clerkly that I too am inclined to trust you. |