courtier

From Middle English courteour, from Anglo-Norman corteour, Old French cortoiier, from cort (“court”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹtiɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːtɪə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ˈko(ː)ɹtiɚ/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ˈkoətɪə/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tiə(ɹ)

courtier (plural courtiers)

1. A person in attendance at a royal court.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     By the Lord, Horatio, this three years I have taken note of it, the age is grown so picked that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier he galls his kibe.

2. A person who flatters in order to seek favour.
   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 12, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN:

     People shouted cheerfully and flinched, but the Prime Minister didn't flinch, she fortified her voice with a firm diapason as if rising to the challenge of a rowdy Chamber. Around her her courtiers started like pheasants.

   • 2024 November 22, Theodore Schleifer, “Elon Musk Gets a Crash Course in How Trumpworld Works”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     The world’s richest person, not known for his humility, is still learning the cutthroat courtier politics of Donald Trump’s inner circle — and his ultimate influence remains an open question.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

3. (entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genus Sephisa.

• court
• courtesan

• outcrier

From Old French courre (“to run”) (compare Modern French courir) + -etier.

• IPA^(key): /kuʁ.tje/

• Audio:

  (file)

courtier m (plural courtiers, feminine courtière)

1. broker; stockbroker

• “courtier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.