courtesying

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of courtesy.

   The young dancers were courtesying gracefully as the final notes faded.

   Courtesying low before the throne, the maid waited to be addressed.

   Note

   Here the word works as a verb: dancers were courtesying, or a maid kneels courtesying low before a throne. The verb courtesy is another spelling of curtsey, so curtseying carries the same meaning. In spelling, the final y stays before -ing, as in courtesy plus -ing, with no change to i. For the gesture treated as a thing, see the noun.

2. 2
   noun

   Gerund of courtesy.

   The countess noticed a slight hesitation in the girl's courtesying.

   His sister practiced her courtesying for hours before the grand ball.

   Note

   A spelling that keeps the gesture tied to courtesy itself, the word for polite behavior that can also name a curtsey. Richardson's Pamela (1742) sets it in a list of social display, with "Simperings, and Bowing, and Courteſying," and that is its natural company. As a full noun it can be counted: the plural courtesyings names separate dips, not just the habit.

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