(亦作curtsey)
(pl. -ies或-eys)
- a woman's or girl's formal greeting made by bending the knees with one foot in front of the other屈膝礼：
she bobbed a curtsy to him.
她向他行了屈膝礼。
(-ies, -ied或-eys, -eyed)no obj.
- perform such an action行屈膝礼：
his sisters had curtsied to the vicar.
他的姐妹们向牧师行了屈膝礼。
词源
early 16th cent.: variant of COURTESY. Both forms were used to denote the expression of respect or courtesy by a gesture, especially in phrases such as do courtesy, make courtesy, and from this arose the current use （late 16th cent.）.