beau

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from French beau (“fine, handsome”), a noun use of the adjective,^[2][3][4][5] from Old French bel, also biau,^[4][3][6] from Latin bellus (“handsome, fine, pretty”),^[7][3][8][9] which Barnhart describes as originally a diminutive of bonus (“good”).^[2] Etymonline takes the sense "dandy" as short for beau garçon (“pretty boy”) (1660s).^[3] Middle English had already borrowed the adjective, beau, from late Old French, pronounced like the first syllable of beauty; it became obsolete in the early 16th century, so the modern noun is a fresh borrowing from Modern French, with the French pronunciation.^[7][2][10] The feminine of the French adjective is the source of belle.^[11][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a Middle English adjective, from about 1300: used before another word, usually a French title, as a courteous or affectionate form of address; and in 1399, in Langland's Richard Redeles, fair, beautiful.^[7] The modern noun, a fop or dandy, is recorded from 1684 in Barnhart,^[2][12] from 1700 in the OED, in Dryden's Fables;^[7] Merriam-Webster dates the sense to 1653.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The modern noun first named a man who gives great attention to his dress, manners and etiquette: Hoad dates the sense "dandy" to the 17th century and "lady's suitor" to the 18th.^[9] Johnson (1755) defined a beau as "a man of dress; a man whose great care is to deck his person", noting that it is sounded like bo and often has the French plural beaux.^[13] The sense of a lady's attendant, suitor or lover is recorded from about 1720,^[7][3][2] and is now chiefly North American.^[5] From the 19th century the word was also a verb, to escort a woman: the OED's first record is from 1843, while Merriam-Webster dates it to 1815.^[7][4] In late 20th-century American campus slang beau was used for a boyfriend, and also for a stupid or clumsy person.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – Middle English adjective, in courteous forms of address (obsolete by 1522).^[7]
• 1399 – adjective, fair, beautiful (obsolete).^[7]
• 1653 – noun, a dandy (Merriam-Webster's date).^[4]
• 1684 – noun, a dandy or fop.^[2][12]
• 1700 – a man who pays excessive attention to dress, in Dryden.^[7]
• c. 1720 – the attendant or suitor of a lady; a lover.^[7][3][2]
• 1815 – verb, to escort (Merriam-Webster's date); the OED's first record is from 1843.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A boyfriend, male admirer or suitor: She arrived at the dance with her new beau.^[15][6][5]
2. A man who is very concerned with his clothes and appearance; a dandy or fop.^[6][4][7]

Verb

1. To act as a woman's escort; to escort.^[4][7]

Word family

• beauish

Related words

• beau geste
• beau ideal
• beau monde
• belle
• beauty
• embellish
• bonus

Usage notes

The plural is beaux, as in French, or beaus.^[6][4][5] The suitor sense is labelled dated in the Concise Oxford,^[15] and is now chiefly North American.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press