Meaning & use
curtesy
A common-law right giving a widower a life interest in property his deceased wife owned.
See it in a sentence
Under old common law, curtesy allowed a husband to keep using his late wife's land for life.
The lawyer explained how curtesy once differed from a widow's separate right called dower.
A note on using this word
This legal term is often confused with courtesy, meaning polite behavior, which is pronounced differently.
Words with a similar meaning
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