Etymologically
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beau

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈbəʊ̯/, /ˈbɵʊ̯/[1]
  • US: /ˈboʊ̯/, /ˈbɔʊ̯/[1]

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

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