courtship
Americannoun
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courtships
plural
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the wooing of one person by another.
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the period during which such wooing takes place.
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solicitation of favors, applause, etc.
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Ethology. behavior in animals that occurs before and during mating, often including elaborate displays.
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Obsolete. courtly behavior; courtesy; gallantry.
noun
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the act, period, or art of seeking the love of someone with intent to marry
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the seeking or soliciting of favours
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obsolete courtly behaviour
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of courtship
Explanation
A courtship is a period in a romantic couple's relationship when they are dating. Most partners go through a courtship before deciding to get married. Courtship is an old-fashioned word, assuming that two people who love each other will eventually get married. If your uncle and aunt only met a few weeks before their wedding, you can say they had a brief courtship — and if you have friends who aren't married but have been together for years, you could describe their decades-long courtship. The word is indeed old-fashioned, from the 16th century when it meant "paying court to a woman with intention of marriage."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In my experience, when a person molds their life to please a potential partner early in the courtship, it can mean they don’t have a strong sense of self.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
By the time Harvard’s courtship of Zimmer picked up, Gay was out and Garber and Manning, both Jewish, sat in the university’s topmost posts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Scientists have managed to compare the fine detail of the brains of male and female flies for the first time, identifying differences they say explain male aggression, courtship and their singing of love songs.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The couple spent their courtship sharing fun Covid-era activities, like stealing toilet paper, enjoying empty cinemas and stadiums, and taking selfies in front of dumpster fires, all to the tune of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.”
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
“This courtship is ill-fated. No good can come of it for you or me,” I said bitterly.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
There are hints about the courtships between Jane and Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, but the audience stays with Mary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
Edward Rogers took an active part in the Blue Jays’ courtships of free agents Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto in recent winters, the people familiar with the matter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Their courtships with Smith move quickly, to the point that Tracy's daughter Kayla became suspicious at how fast her mother was falling for this man who still felt like a stranger.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2020
Also gone was the picturesque subject matter: the street landscapes and polite courtships, the elderly couples and fumbling suitors and office workers trapped in suburban patterns, intruded upon by surrealism, like figures in Magritte paintings.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 10, 2018
They are ready, as soon as they come back, for new courtships, fresh love-making, another girl—with blue eyes this time, and fair hair instead of brown.
From A Bride of the Plains by Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
