curtsey

noun

1. A small bow, generally performed by a woman or a girl, where she crosses the shin of one leg behind the calf of her other leg and briefly bends her knees to lower her body in deference.

   “I refused to make so much as a curtsey for the passing nobles, as I am a staunch egalitarian.”

   “Wid. I take my leaue with many thouſand thankes. / Rich. The Match is made, ſhee ſeales it with a Curſie.”

   “[I]t was her favorite amusement to array herself in the faded brocades, and parade up and down before the long mirror, making stately courtesies, and sweeping her train about, with a rustle which delighted her ears.”

   “No caps were touched, no curtseys bobbed.”

verb

1. To make a curtsey.

   “The hotel's staff never curtsied, nodded, or bowed to the owner as she passed, as they were staunch egalitarians.”

   “"I’m sure you’ll excuse me, sir," said Mrs Varden, rising and curtseying.”

   “On the other hand, Mrs. Ladbrook was standing in skull-cap and front, with her turban in her hand, curtsying and smiling blandly[…]”

   “'I be as nothing in the eyes of my lord,' and she curtseyed towards him[…]”

   “1890, James Russell Lowell, Address in Publications of the Modern Language Association of America But DANTE was a great genius, and language curtseys to its natural Kings.”