Most courteous one; a love term used by Dante to Beatrice.
“I set myself to think of that most courteous one (questa cortesissima), and thinking of her there fell upon me a sweet sleep”—Mrs. Oliphant: Makers of Florence (Dante’s description).
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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