However, this does not mean that the terms used do not have very precise meanings. Prostitute and whore: a person who has sexual intercourse for a fee. There is not necessarily any emotional bond between the couple although some prostitutes have regular clients. Some prostitutes work on the street, relying on casual passers-by for custom. Usually there is an unofficial specified area of a city or town where it is known that prostitutes ply their trade. A whore is another name for a prostitute but has a rather malicious connotation. To call someone a whore is usually an insult. Courtesan: the word courtesan comes from courtier, a person who resides in the court of a monarch. Courtiers were not servants carrying out menial tasks but people of some social standing who would attend in various ways to the monarch. During the Italian Renaissance the word cortigiana meant the mistress of the king. A court mistress needed to have accomplishments to entertain her lover, usually a musical ability, dancing, intelligence and wit.
