Crossword clues for courtesan
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Courtesan \Cour"te*san\ (k?r"t?-z?n; 277), n. [F. courtisane, fr. courtisan courtier, It. cortigiano; or directly fr. It. cortigiana, or Sp. cortesana. See Court.] A woman who prostitutes herself for hire; a prostitute; a harlot.
Lasciviously decked like a courtesan.
--Sir H.
Wotton.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
early 15c., from Middle French courtisane, from Italian cortigiana "prostitute," literally "woman of the court," fem. of cortigiano "one attached to a court," from corte "court," from Latin cortem (see court (n.)).
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context archaic English) A woman of a royal or noble court. 2 (context dated English) The mistress of a royal or noble. 3 A prostitute, especially one with high-status or wealthy clients.
WordNet
Wikipedia
A courtesan was originally a courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.
In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together. Prior to the Renaissance, courtesans served to convey information untrusted to servants to visiting dignitaries. In Renaissance Europe, courtiers played an extremely important role in upper-class society. As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men and women would often seek gratification and companionship from people living at court. In fact, the verb to court originally meant "to be or reside at court", and later came to mean "to behave as a courtier" and then courtship, or "to pay amorous attention to somebody". The most intimate companion of a ruler was called the favourite.
In Renaissance usage, the Italian word cortigiana, feminine of cortigiano ("courtier") came to refer to a person who attends the court, and then to a well-educated and independent woman, eventually a trained artist or artisan of dance and singing, especially one associated with wealthy, powerful, or upper-class society who provided luxuries and status in exchange for entertainment and companionship. The word was borrowed by English from Italian through the French form "courtisane" during the 16th century, especially associated to the meaning of "donna di palazzo".
A male figure comparable to the courtesan was the Italian cicisbeo, the French chevalier servant, the Spanish cortejo or estrecho. It actually seems that the figure of the chevalier servant (French, literally "serving cavalier", lady's escort) of a married lady was quite common in Europe up to the 18th century.
The courtesans of East Asia, particularly those of the Japanese empire, held a different social role than that of their European counterparts. Examples of Japanese courtesans included the Oiran class, who were more focused on the aspect of entertainment in comparison with European courtesans.
Today, the term courtesan has become a euphemism to designate a comforter, escort, mistress or a prostitute, especially one of dignified etiquette who attracts wealthy, powerful, or influential clients.
Courtesan may refer to:
- Courtesan, a female courtier
- A prostitute catering to clients of wealth and status
- Euripus, a genus of brush-footed butterflies commonly known as the Courtesans
- Euripus nyctelius, a species in the genus Euripus commonly known as the Courtesan
- The Courtesans, a UK pop group fronted by Eileen Daly
Courtesan (Spanish: Cortesana) is a 1948 Mexican drama film directed by Alberto Gout and starring Crox Alvarado, Meche Barba and Gustavo Rojo.
The film's art direction was by Carlos Toussaint.
Usage examples of "courtesan".
Sir Rutherford Alcock, in his book upon Japan, states that the portraits of the most famous courtesans of Yedo are yearly hung up in the temple at Asakusa.
Remember her when you read books in which beautiful, scented Balzacian courtesans or Dostoevsky harlot-saints appear.
Uninterested in the pleasuring of trained courtesans, Boran merely used their bodies.
These corpulent warriors, who at Calais shortly before had run till overtaken by nervous prostration and general debility, now wore more millinery and breastpins and slashed velvet and satin facings and tinsel than the most successful and highly painted and decorated courtesans of that period.
Lord Diegan followed the talk as he once had ravished the courtesans he seduced from the beds of wealthy patrons.
I only knew the tyke by the depth of his chest, the roundness of his foot, and his manner of baying, for the poor gazehound was painted like any Venetian courtesan.
Many of the finest New York City courtesans found themselves giving advice on interrace counterfaces.
Presently Omi-san has no consorts though Kiku, the most famous courtesan in Izu, is almost like a consort.
She had come across the name of a character a Lyonnaise courtesan in a De Maupassant short story, Isabella later told me, and had taken it for her own.
She had come across the name of a character - a Lyonnaise courtesan in a De Maupassant short story, Isabella later told me, and had taken it for her own.
There are mistresses of men from all factions, and courtesans who could entertain a man who is Montagnard tonight and one who is a Petrine legate tomorrow.
Most noble females were beautiful, pampered courtesans, whose impeccably smooth skin glistened from lotions and photoactive paints.
All kinds of people: wormrunners and harijan, poets and phantasts, and even two beautiful courtesans who were highly placed in the Society of courtesans.
So as the caravan left the Nile behind and began winding through the 2,400 wards and quarters of Cairo, it was carefully followed by Janissaries, not to mention hundreds of beggars, Vagabonds, pedlars, courtesans, and curious boys.
A wild scene in the Harz Mountains gives way to an enchanted hail in which are seen the most famous courtesans of ancient history--Phryne, Lais, Aspasia, Cleopatra, and Helen of Troy.