courtly love

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noun

a highly stylized code of behavior popular chiefly from the 12th to the 14th century that prescribed the rules of conduct between lovers, advocating idealized but illicit love, and which fostered an extensive medieval literature based on this tradition.

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Origin of courtly love

First recorded in 1895–1900

Words nearby courtly love

courtier, courting, courting mirror, court-leet, courtly, courtly love, court-martial, Court of Appeal, court of appeals, court of claims, court of common pleas

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use courtly love in a sentence

What happened to true love knows no boundaries and all that?
Freaking Out About Age Gaps in Gay Relationships Is Homophobic|Samantha Allen|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“I love my job and I love my city and I am committed to the work here,” he said in a statement.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And we have a lot of great guests this season: Greta Gerwig, Natasha Lyonne, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi is back—I love that guy.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You just travel light with carry-on luggage, go to cities that you love, and get to hang out with all your friends.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Terrorism is bad news anywhere, but especially rough on Odessa, where the city motto seems to be “make love, not war.”
Is Putin Turning to Terrorism in Ukraine?|Anna Nemtsova|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In this case, I suspect, there was co-operant a strongly marked childish characteristic, the love of producing an effect.
Children's Ways|James Sully
The well-known "cock and bull" stories of small children are inspired by this love of strong effect.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Women generally consider consequences in love, seldom in resentment.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
And as she hesitated between obedience to one and duty toward the other, her life, her love and future was in the balance.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Nothing but an extreme love of truth could have hindered me from concealing this part of my story.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift

British Dictionary definitions for courtly love

courtly love

noun

a tradition represented in Western European literature between the 12th and the 14th centuries, idealizing love between a knight and a revered (usually married) lady

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for courtly love

courtly love

A set of attitudes toward love that were strong in the Middle Ages. According to the ideal of courtly love, a knight or nobleman worshiped a woman of high birth, and his love for her inspired him to do great things on the battlefield and elsewhere. There was usually no physical relationship or marriage between them, however; the woman was usually married to another man.