Courtship
Middle English: from Old French cort, from Latin cohors, cohort- ‘yard or retinue’. The verb is influenced by Old Italian corteare, Old French courtoyer . Compare with cohort.
wiktionary
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). [1]
etymonline
courtship (n.)
1570s, "behavior of a courtier," from court (n.) + -ship. Meaning "the wooing of a woman, attention paid by a man to a woman with intention of winning her affection and ultimately her consent to marriage" is from 1590s. By 1830s it was used of a period during which a couple mutually develops a romantic relationship with a view to marriage.
