[f. as prec. + -NESS.] The quality of being courteous; gracious or obliging politeness; courtesy.

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c. 1430.  Chev. Assigne, 179. The curteysnesse of criste … be wth þese other cheynes.

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1530.  Palsgr., 210/1. Courtesnesse, benignité.

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1548.  Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. v. (R.). Godly menne … muste moue and allure all menne with courtiousnesse, ientlenesse and beneficialnesse … to loue and to concorde.

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1768–74.  Tucker, Lt. Nat. (1852), I. 253. Courteousness is the skin and outside of virtue.

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1871.  Smiles, Charac., ix. (1876), 236. His manly courteousness and affability of disposition.

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