COURTESY, or CURTESY, of England; a certain tenure whereby a man marrying an heiress seized of lands of fee-simple, or fee-tail general, or seized as heir of the tail special, and getteth a child by her that cometh alive into the world, though both it and his wife die forthwith; yet, if she were in possession, he shall keep the land during his life, and is called tenant per legem Angliæ, "or tenant by the courtesy of England;" because this privilege is not allowed in any country except Scotland, where it is called curialitas Scotia.