Word.ws English Dictionary

courtesies

courtesies is the plural of courtesy.

Meaning of courtesy

Noun

courtesy (countable and uncountable, plural courtesies)

  1. (uncountable) Polite behavior.
    • Please extend them the courtesy of your presence.
  2. (countable) A polite gesture or remark, especially as opposed to an obligation or standard practice.
    • I offered them a ride simply as a courtesy.
  3. (uncountable) Consent or agreement in spite of fact; indulgence.
    • They call this pond a lake by courtesy only.
  4. (uncountable) Willingness or generosity in providing something needed.
    • They received free advertising through the courtesy of the local newspaper.
  5. (dated) A curtsey.
    • The lady drops a courtesy in token of obedience, and the ceremony proceeds as usual.1760, Oliver Goldsmith, The Citizen of the World
  6. The life interest that the surviving husband has in the real or heritable estate of his wife.

See all 8 meanings of courtesy

Phrases with courtesies

Questions about courtesies

What is courtesies the plural of?
Courtesies is the plural of courtesy.

Words near courtesies in the dictionary

  1. courtesanry
  2. courtesans
  3. courtesanship
  4. courtesie
  5. courtesied
  6. courtesies
  7. courtest
  8. courtesy
  9. courtesy book
  10. courtesy books
  11. courtesy call

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: courtesies (page history and authors); courtesy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “courtesies.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/courtesies. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.