ˈkərd.əsē noun
or curtesy initiate
( plural curtesies or curtesies initiate )
Etymology: Middle English curtasy, curteisie, corteisie curtesy, courteous behavior — more at courtesy
: the future potential interest that a husband has in all real estate in which his wife has an estate of inheritance arising upon the birth to them of a child alive and capable for an instant of inheriting from her the interest at common law and that is as often defined by statute, a life estate for his life or sometimes a one-third interest in fee which becomes consummate upon his surviving his wife and thereby having the right of enjoyment