Where does “courtship” come from?
Courtship derives from Old French courtship, from Old French cort meaning an enclosed space or retinue, from Latin cohors meaning an enclosed yard or group of soldiers, from Proto-Indo-European skab- meaning to scratch or cut.
courtship (English): The act of paying court, with the intent to...
Definitions
- The act of paying court, with the intent to...
Ancestry of “courtship”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | court | An enclosed space; a courtyard; an uncovered area... |
| 2 | Middle English | court | A courtyard; an enclosed space |
| 3 | Old French | cort | court |
| 4 | Latin | cōrs | — |
| 5 | Latin | cohors | a court; a farmyard or enclosure; a retinue or... |
| 6 | Latin | co- | allomorph of con- |
| 7 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 8 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 9 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 13 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 14 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 15 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 16 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 17 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |