curtsy
/ˈkəːtsi
/(also curtsey)
noun (plural curtsies or curtseys)
A woman’s or girl’s formal greeting made by bending the knees with one foot in front of the other: she bobbed a curtsy to him...
- Leave us, Monique,’ she waved her hand at the maid, who bobbed a curtsy and hurried out.
- A little maid rushed to the door and bobbed a curtsy.
- I could hear the rustle of the maid's woolen skirts as she bobbed a curtsy.
Synonyms
bob, genuflection
archaic courtesy, obeisance
verb (curtsies, curtsying, curtsied or curtseys, curtseying, curtseyed) [no object]
Perform a curtsy: his sisters had curtsied to the vicar...
- Jocelyn, looking quite small on the large stage, curtsied and blushed though she was used to all the attention by now.
- And then, within a matter of months, people were bowing to her, people were curtsying to her, people were looking at everything she wore, analyzing everything.
- When the case began, the court clerk may not have gone as far as curtsying, but she still addressed her Royal highness as ‘Ma'am’.
Synonyms
bend the knee, drop a curtsy, bob, genuflect
Origin
Early 16th century: variant of courtesy. Both forms were used to denote the expression of respect or courtesy by a gesture, especially in phrases such as do courtesy, make courtesy, and from this arose the current use (late 16th century).