A privilege or courtesy granted to someone, sometimes referring to a hunting right or the courtesy of allowing someone to use land or resources.
From Old French 'courtesie,' derived from Latin 'cohors' (court). The word evolved to mean the gracious behavior expected in court, then any generous concession.
Medieval 'courtesies' were literally encoded laws about how nobility should treat each other—breaking these rules could start wars, so what seems like etiquette was actually a formal contract holding society together.
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