The story
- Old French · derived fromcurteis
- Middle English · inherited fromcurteis
- English todaycourteous
From Middle English curteis, from Old French curteis (French courtois), from cort (“court”). By surface analysis, court + -eous. Compare typologically Czech zdvořilý (<~ dvůr), German höflich (<~ Hof). Also note Russian прийти́сь ко двору́ (prijtísʹ ko dvorú). Compare typologically civil, urbane. See pagan for the opposite.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.