curtsy

views updated Jun 11 2018

curt·sy / ˈkərtsē/ (also curt·sey) • n. (pl. -sies or -seys) 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.• v. (-sies, -sied or -seys, -seyed) [intr.] perform such an action: she curtsied onto the stage.ORIGIN: early 16th cent.: variant of courtesy. Both forms were used to denote the expression of respect or courtesy by a gesture, esp. in phrases such as do courtesy, make courtesy, and from this arose the current use (late 16th cent.).

More From encyclopedia.com