courtisan
French, noun/kuʁ.ti.zɑ̃/
courtisan is spelled C-O-U-R-T-I-S-A-N (9 letters) and appears about once in every 2 million words in written French, the 47,811th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Courtisan is a French masculine noun meaning “courtier” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Celui qui est attaché à la cour, au service d’un souverain, qui fréquente la cour d’un souverain, d’un roi…”.
What does courtisan mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinecourtier
- 2
masculinesycophant
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui relève de la courtisanerie.
noun: 1. Celui qui est attaché à la cour, au service d’un souverain, qui fréquente la cour d’un souverain, d’un roi, d’un prince. 2. Celui qui courtise quelqu’un, qui cherche à plaire aux puissants, aux gens qui ont de l’influence, pour en obtenir quelque chose, et cela par des manières obséquieuses et flatteuses. 3. Celui qui par des manières flatteuses, recherche les faveurs d’une femme. 4. Homme galant de profession ; prostitué.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of courtisan
- courtisans plural
- courtisane feminine
- courtisanes plural feminine
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce courtisan?
- /kuʁ.ti.zɑ̃/
- \kuʁ.ti.zɑ̃\
- [kuʁ.ti.zɑ̃]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to courtisan
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is courtisan in French?
courtisan appears about once in every 2 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).