From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Courteous \Cour"te*ous\ (k?r"t?-?s; 277), a. [OE. cortais,
corteis, cortois, rarely corteous, OF. corties, corteis, F.
courtois. See Court.]
Of courtlike manners; pertaining to, or expressive of,
courtesy; characterized by courtesy; civil; obliging; well
bred; polite; affable; complaisant.
[1913 Webster]
A patient and courteous bearing. --Prescott.
[1913 Webster]
His behavior toward his people is grave and courteous.
--Fuller.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
courteous
adj 1: exhibiting courtesy and politeness; "a nice gesture"
[syn: courteous, gracious, nice]
2: characterized by courtesy and gracious good manners; "if a
man be gracious and courteous to strangers it shows he is a
citizen of the world"-Francis Bacon [ant: discourteous]