Dictionary

courtesan en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɔɹtɪzæn/ (US)
• /kɔːtɪˈzæn/ UK, non-rhotic
• /ˈkoɹtɪzæn/ (US)
• /ˈkɔɹtɪzən/ (US)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈkɔɹtɪzæn/ UK, rhotic
• /ˈkɔːtɪzæn/ UK, non-rhotic
• /kɔɹtɪˈzæn/ UK, rhotic
• /ˈkɔːtɪzən/ UK, non-rhotic
• /ˈkoɹtɪzən/ (US)
• /ˈkɔɹtɪzən/ UK, rhotic

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French courtisane, from Italian cortigiana, feminine of cortigiano (“courtier”), from corte (“court”), itself from Latin cohors.

Meanings

1. A female prostitute, especially one with high-status or wealthy clients.
   • In the notes he wrote for Nana, his novel about a courtesan in Second Empire Paris, Zola imagined ‘a whole society hurling itself’ at her body, ‘a pack of hounds after a bitch, who is not even on heat and makes fun of the hounds following her’. This might also describe the life of Harriette Wilson, whose unguarded pursuit by the leaders of the British aristocracy, the army, the government and opposition made her the most desired, and then the most dangerous, woman in Regency London. 2014, Frances Wilson, The Courtesan's Revenge, Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 10:
   • What wine, what drug, what philtre known of man / Will drown this ancient foe, / Ruthless and ravenous as a courtesan, / Sure as an ant, and slow? 1909, Charles Baudelaire, “The Irreparable”, in John Collings Squire, transl., Poems and Baudelaire Flowers:
2. (dated) The mistress of a royal or noble.
3. (archaic) A woman of a royal or noble court.
4. A fairy chess piece that can move to any adjacent square, that, when captured, the capturing piece is also eliminated.
   • The courtesan moves like a mann, but whatever piece captures her is also removed from the board (unless it’s a king). 2018 October 12, aabicus, “My 7 Favorite Fairy Chess Pieces”, in The Daily SPUF:

Forms

Deriveds

courtesanship

Synonyms

cockatrice · scrubber · Dutch widow · pavement princess · GRO · harlot · trull · hooker · bangtail · punk · wapping moll · painted lady · lady of leisure · woman of easy virtue · lightskirt · vice girl · trollop · nun · perdita · party girl · tawaif · thot · mermaid · thotty · karayuki-san · girl of the game · trick turner · trug · hoer · pimpette · brasser · prozzie · musk cat · nymph of the pavement · pug · lady of the evening · Paphian · tib · sodomitess · pross · hook · prostitutor · brass · gay lady · blouze · flap · prozzy · quean · blowen · gill · mudkicker · slapper · meat puppet · woman of the town · escort · tweak · public woman · creature of the night · dollymop · callet · wanton · wapping dell · chippy · put · skainsmate · commoner · Fulham virgin · quiff · frail sister · croshabell · Haymarket ware · woman of the night · tom · broad · quail · slut · working girl · fille de joie · woman of ill fame · 'ho · prosty · Bankside lady · loose woman · mort wap-apace · brass nail · Covent Garden nun · nymph of the pavé · wench · skivvy · nymph of darkness · puta · prostitute · chromo · fornicatrix · gamester · drab · mot · lady of pleasure · slag · mud kicker · pro · lady of the game · hackney · sex labourer · hireling · bargirl · coaster · abandons · quene · sex worker · pucelle · pro skirt · doxy · pussygirl · stem siren · girl rented overnight · blowsabella · floozie · tart · business girl · strumpet · ribibe · woman of ill repute · puella publica · mutton · street taco · wapping mort · hoe · calico queen · gillian · mob · lady of the night · jay · bat · prostie · minx · geebag · treddle · almah · moll · slit · priestess of Venus · laced mutton · prossie · comfort girl · pretty horsebreaker · mud-kicker · alley cat · cat · prossy · good-time girl · cocotte · succubus · daughter of joy · comfort woman · stew · Japayuki-san · soiled dove · whore · hustler · beotch · woman of the street · lady of light virtue

Translations (59)

it prostituta (high-status prostitute) · pt cortesã (high-status prostitute) · nah āhuiyani (high-status prostitute) · fi kurtisaani (high-status prostitute) · sh kurtizàna (high-status prostitute) · ro curtezană (high-status prostitute) · vi đĩ hạng sang (high-status prostitute) · vi đĩ quý phái (high-status prostitute) · de Kurtisane (high-status prostitute) · sv kurtisan (mistress) · fr courtisane (high-status prostitute) · sk kurtizána (high-status prostitute) · pt cortesã (woman of court) · bg куртиза́нка (high-status prostitute) · fi seurapiirihuora (high-status prostitute) · fi hovinainen (woman of court) · ru куртиза́нка (mistress) · sv kurtisan (high-status prostitute) · cs dvorní dáma (woman of court) · grc ἑταίρα (high-status prostitute) · gv streebagh (high-status prostitute) · ja 娼婦 (high-status prostitute) · be куртыза́нка (high-status prostitute) · da kurtisane (high-status prostitute) · pl kurtyzana (mistress) · it cortigiana (woman of court) · hu kéjnő (high-status prostitute) · pl kurtyzana (high-status prostitute) · ru куртиза́нка (high-status prostitute) · es cortesana (high-status prostitute) · el κοκότα (high-status prostitute) · ca cortesana (high-status prostitute) · hu kurtizán (high-status prostitute) · hy պերճաղիճ (high-status prostitute) · de Hofdame (woman of court) · hi कंचनी (woman of court) · ja 高級娼婦 (high-status prostitute) · gl cortesá (woman of court) · nl courtisane (high-status prostitute) · ja 宮廷の女 (woman of court) · cmn 高級妓女 /高级妓女 (high-status prostitute) · ar مَحْظِيّة (high-status prostitute) · ru куртиза́нка (woman of court) · la meretrix (high-status prostitute) · fi kurtisaani (mistress) · ko 고급 창녀 (high-status prostitute) · sl kurtizana (high-status prostitute) · ru придво́рная (woman of court) · it cortigiana (high-status prostitute) · da hofdame (woman of court) · sv hovdam (woman of court) · hy կուրտիզանուհի (high-status prostitute) · mk куртиза́на (high-status prostitute) · gl cortesá (high-status prostitute) · cmn 妓女 (high-status prostitute) · ko 창녀 (high-status prostitute) · cs kurtizána (high-status prostitute) · sh куртиза̀на (high-status prostitute) · uk куртиза́нка (high-status prostitute)