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belleza

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word belleza

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1376–1396 Juan Fernández de Heredia, Libro de actoridades More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Latin bellus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Spanish bello
Spanish belleza

Pronunciation

  • /beˈʝeθa/, [beˈʝe.θa], /beˈʎeθa/[1]

Forms

belleza f (plural bellezas)[1] The texts of Juan Fernández de Heredia write both belleza and uelleza.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish bello + -eza, as the DCECH and the Academy's dictionary of 2001 present it.[3][4][5] Wiktionary thinks it was probably borrowed from Catalan bellesa, with belhesa as the other possible source, both from Vulgar Latin *bellitia, and Machado's two possible sources for Portuguese beleza are likewise belleza and Italian bellezza.[1][6] The Catalan word is from the same Vulgar Latin noun.[7]

The adjective bello itself came into Spanish in the early 13th century from Latin bellus (“pretty”) through Old Occitan bel; it is unknown to the poem of the Cid, whose own words were bellido and hermoso.[3][8] The older noun beldad (about 1250) was taken from beltat.[3][8] The Latin adjective is thought to continue an Old Latin diminutive of the word that became bonus (“good”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH finds belleza first in the Aragonese works of Juan Fernández de Heredia (1376–1396): in the Libro de actoridades a thing is no longer what it was ni en color ni en forma ni en liugereza ni en belleza ni en nobleza, “neither in colour nor in shape nor in lightness nor in beauty nor in nobility”.[2][9] The DCECH and the BDELC date it only to the second quarter of the 15th century, with the Marqués de Santillana.[3][8][10]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word still needed explaining by the older beldad: Alfonso de Palencia glosses Latin bellitudo as belleza in 1490, and Nebrija (c. 1495) says that belleza is the same as beldad.[11][12] Covarrubias refers the reader to beldad.[13]

The Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as a just proportion of the parts of the body, especially the face, with grace, and also as an excellent thing;[14][15] decir bellezas was to speak with wit and charm.[14][15] The Academy's dictionary of 1884 turned it into an aesthetic idea: the property of things that makes us love them, found in nature and in works of art, absolute only in God.[16] The sense “beautiful woman” followed, which the DLE now gives for any person or thing remarkable for its beauty.[4][17] Moliner notes that belleza is used more often and less solemnly than bello, because bonito has no noun of its own.[18]

In Colombia belleza is used ironically for a disreputable person, and in the rural speech of Puerto Rico it means money.[19][20]

Timeline

  • 1376–1396 – first records, in the works of Juan Fernández de Heredia.[2][9]
  • 2nd quarter of the 15th century – the Marqués de Santillana, the DCECH's first record.[3][8]
  • 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia uses it to gloss Latin bellitudo.[11]
  • c. 1495 – Nebrija equates it with beldad.[12]
  • 1594 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico City.[21]
  • 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it and records decir bellezas.[14]
  • 1884 – the Academy defines beauty as the property of things that makes us love them.[16]

Meanings

Noun

  1. beauty, the quality of being bello: La belleza del valle nos dejó sin palabras.[17][1]
  2. A person or thing remarkable for its hermosura, especially a beautiful woman: Su hermana era una belleza.[17][18]
  3. (Colombia, popular) A disreputable person.[19]
  4. (Puerto Rico, rural) money.[20]
  • bello
  • beldad
  • embellecer
  • hermosura
  • Vulgar Latin *bellitia
  • Italian bellezza

Usage notes

The DLE records belleza ideal, in Platonic philosophy the model of beauty that real forms strive after, and decir bellezas, to say something with grace.[17] Common phrases are salón de belleza “beauty salon” and la belleza está en los ojos de quien ve.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. belleza
  3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 562
  4. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. belleza
  5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 983
  6. ^ Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. 407
  7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. bellesa
  8. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. bello
  9. ^ a b Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. belleza
  10. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. belleza
  11. ^ a b Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 512
  12. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 302
  13. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 296
  14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 590
  15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1770), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 2nd ed., vol. I: A–B, Madrid: Joachín Ibarra, p. 1, 472
  16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 146
  17. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. belleza
  18. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. belleza
  19. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. belleza
  20. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. belleza
  21. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. belleza

Related etymologies

  • máscara · also from Catalan
  • rol · also from Catalan
  • borde · also from Catalan
  • presa · also from Catalan
  • talla · also from Catalan
  • pila · also from Catalan
  • gafa · also from Catalan
  • guante · also from Catalan
Cite this entry

“Belleza.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/belleza. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·