courtingn.
The action of court v.† 1. Residence at or frequenting of the court; the practice of a courtier. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting temporarily > haunting or resorting > [noun] > court
courtingc1530
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > retainer or follower > [noun] > courtier > office or practice of
courtingc1530
courtiership1561
courtship1641
c1530 A. Barclay Egloges ii. sig. Jiv v All courtynge I defye More clennes is kept, within some hogges sty.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer ii. sig. N.iiv To finde oute somwhat to saie for one nyghte of Courting.
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints 784 For he is practiz'd well in policie, And thereto doth his Courting most applie.
2. The paying of courteous attention, in order to win favour or love; paying of addresses, wooing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > courtship or wooing > [noun]
wooingc1000
wouhlechec1230
wouhlechunga1250
love work?a1300
love-druryc1300
love playc1390
suitc1475
lovemakinga1500
loveshipc1500
suiting1568
courtship1600
courting1607
suitoringa1640
amouring1675
sparking1804
sprunting1823
lovering1848
twosing1940
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > respect > [noun] > respectful attention
observancec1425
court1590
courtship1597
attendancya1600
observancy1601
observation1605
courting1607
assiduity1641
observantness1727
peculiarity1747
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > seeking marriage > [noun] > seeking hand in marriage
wooingc1000
wouhlechec1230
wouhlechunga1250
suitc1475
suiting1568
courtship1600
courting1607
suitoringa1640
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > servile flattery or currying favour > [noun]
fawninga1350
adulationc1400
papelardya1425
papelardrya1500
captation1523
clawing1548
insinuation1553
curry-favour1581
man-pleasing1588
courting1607
men-pleasing1615
supparasitation1620
sycophantizing1640
assiduity1641
ingratiating1642
licking1648
man-pleasance1656
sycophancy1657
fawnery1661
sycophantrya1677
nutting1789
tuft-hunting1789
cultivation1793
huggery1804
ingratiation1815
sycophantism1821
lickspittling1839
toadyship1839
toadyism1840
bootlicking1849
toadying1863
arse-licking1912
lickspittle1914
apple-polishing1926
pot-licking1929
brown-nosing1934
ass-kissing1936
arse-kissing1937
ass-licking1946
sucking-up1946
bum-sucking1949
love bomb1975
love-bombing1976
1607 Fayre Mayde of Exchange in T. Heywood Wks. (1874) II. 18 A plague on this courting.
1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions iii. iv. 259 A gainfull courting of so pleasing a mistresse.
1655 E. Nicholas Nicholas Papers (1892) II. 350 There is danger by too much courting of enemyes to loose frinds.
1908 Daily Chron. 2 June 1/2 As courting is a necessity with them [sc. young people], I am determined they shall have opportunities for this innocent amusement.
Compounds
attributive.
ΚΠ
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot iv. xvii. 259 It is a drinking day, or a Courting day, and no day of Turnament?
1784 J. Potter Virtuous Villagers II. 113 Vows of constancy and adoration engage some of our courting hours.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians I. xxx. 243 I often and familiarly heard..the Winnebago courting flute.
1855 Knickerbocker 46 217 Observe how naturally the ‘courtin’-room and its accessories are described.
1887 Harper's Mag. Feb. 354/1 I have read that the gallants train their little horses to prance and curvet and rear and fidget about, and that these are called ‘courtin' horses’, and are used when a young man goes courting, to impress his mistress with his manly horsemanship.
1904 Good Words Apr. 244/1 ‘The Winnebago courting flute’, says an old writer, ‘is made of the bone of a turkey's leg, and is pierced with sundry holes, giving a mellifluous tone’.
1911 J. A. Thomson Biol. Seasons ii. 220 Anything that might be interpreted as love-play or courting-play.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online December 2019).
courtingadj.
That courts, or pays court.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > respect > [adjective] > paying respectful attention
courting1580
observant1594
assiduous1725
the mind > emotion > love > courtship or wooing > [adjective] > wooing or courting
wooinga1382
courting1580
lovemaking?1615
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > servile flattery or currying favour > [adjective]
fikingc1230
papelarda1500
gnathonical1540
clawing1574
pickthank1575
slavering1575
claw-back1577
courting1580
fawning1585
adulatory1587
insinuating1592
insinuative1592
scraping1599
adulatorious1612
men-pleasing1615
pickthanking1621
sycophantical1632
gnathonic1637
insinuanta1639
sycophantizing1640
ingratiating1642
led1672
sycophanting1674
sycophantly1680
sycophanta1684
sycophantica1698
pickthankly1702
assiduous1725
foot-licking1786
tuft-hunting1789
sycophantish1821
favour-currying1831
bootlicking1849
toadying1863
creepy-crawly1890
slauming1904
toadyish1909
ass-licking1940
ass-kissing1942
brown-nosing1946
arse-licking1950
sucky1991
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > seeking marriage > [adjective] > relating to courting or wooing > courting or wooing
wooinga1382
courting1784
1580 H. Gifford Posie of Gilloflowers ii. sig. Tv Thou knowest among the courting crew, How little fayth is forced.
1591 E. Spenser Ruines of Time in Complaints 202 The courting masker louteth lowe.
1784 J. Potter Virtuous Villagers II. 118 What are the joys of courting lovers to connubial happiness!
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 503 Did he not pass night after night by loving courting couples to see..how much he could see?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.c1530adj.1580