courtship
court·ship/ˈkɔɹt.ʃɪp/noun
courtship is spelled C-O-U-R-T-S-H-I-P: 9 letters and 2 syllables (court·ship). It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, courtship means “The act of wooing a person to enter into a romantic relationship or marriage; hence, the period during which a couple fall in love before their…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of courtship is courtships.
How many letters and syllables are in courtship?
| Letters | 9: C-O-U-R-T-S-H-I-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: court·ship |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,651st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is courtship?
Courtship appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce courtship?
- UK /ˈkɔːt.ʃɪp/
- US /ˈkɔɹt.ʃɪp/
Courtship has 2 syllables, split court·ship in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Mélange_a_trois-courtship.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of courtship
- courtships plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does courtship mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteThe ceremonial performance of acts of courtesy to a dignitary, etc.
- 2
The act of wooing a person to enter into a romantic relationship or marriage; hence, the period during which a couple fall in love before their marriage.
- 3
The behaviour exhibited by an animal to attract a mate.
- 4
The act of trying to solicit a favour or support from someone.
- 5
obsoleteElegance or propriety of manners fitting for a court; courtliness; (by extension) courteous or polite behaviour; courtesy.
- 6
obsoleteThe pursuit of being a courtier, such as exercising diplomacy, finesse, etc.; also, the artifices and intrigues of a court; courtcraft.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Courtship in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of wooing a person to enter into a romantic relationship or marriage:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cour |
| German | Brautwerbung, Freien, Liebeswerben |
| Portuguese | corte, cortejo |
| Spanish | cortejo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does courtship come from?
From court (“demonstration of such respect as is traditionally given at court; attention directed to a person in power; behaviour designed to gain favour; politeness of manner; civility towards someone”) + -ship (suffix forming nouns indicating a property or state of being).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).