Where does “curtsey” come from?
curtsey (English) comes from Old French curteisie, from Old French curtesie, from Old French curteis, from Old French cort, from Latin cōrs, from Latin cohors, from Latin co-, from Latin cōn- — to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...
curtsey (English): A small bow, generally performed by a woman or a...
Definitions
- A small bow, generally performed by a woman or a...
Ancestry of “curtsey”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | curteisie | — |
| 2 | Old French | curtesie | honor; valor; nobleness |
| 3 | Old French | curteis | Alternative form of cortois |
| 4 | Old French | cort | court |
| 5 | Latin | cōrs | — |
| 6 | Latin | cohors | a court; a farmyard or enclosure; a retinue or... |
| 7 | Latin | co- | allomorph of con- |
| 8 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 9 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 10 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 16 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 17 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 18 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 20 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |