courtship
n. C / Un. the period of time when two people have a romantic relationship before they decide to get married. It is a more traditional way to describe dating.
n. the period during which a couple develops a romantic relationship with the eventual aim of marriage. While often associated with traditional or historical contexts, it remains the standard term in biological contexts for animal mating rituals.
Their brief courtship led to a very happy marriage.
After a year of formal courtship, the couple announced their engagement to their families during the holiday dinner.
The novel explores the rigid social rules of nineteenth-century courtship, where every conversation and gesture was scrutinized by the community for signs of serious intent.
From court (“demonstration of such respect as is traditionally given at court; attention directed to a person in power; behaviour designed to gain favour; politeness of manner; civility towards someone”) + -ship (suffix forming nouns indicating a property or state of being).
Uncountable when referring to the general concept or process; countable when referring to a specific instance between two people.