Etymologically
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beau

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bo/[1]
  • IPA (obsolete): /bjo/[1]

Forms

beau (masculine singular before vowel bel, feminine belle, masculine plural beaux, feminine plural belles)[1] Old French bel (about 881), then biau and beau, bel is kept before a vowel and in some phrases.[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French bel, inherited from Latin bellus (“pretty, charming”).[2][4][3][1][5] “Bellus”, a familiar diminutive of bonus (“good”) (old “duenos”), was used in classical Latin of women and children, and of men only ironically.[2][4][6] Etymonline traces it to a diminutive “*dwenelo-” of an Indo-European root “*deu-”, a reconstruction de Vaan calls disputed.[7] Being affectionate, it replaced pulcher (“beautiful”) and decōrus (“seemly”) in popular Latin; in part of the Romance area fōrmōsus won instead, giving Spanish hermoso and Romanian frumos.[2][4] In the southern dialects of France it competes with “brave”, “gent”, “gentil” and “poulit”.[2][4]

Cognate with Italian bello, Occitan bèl, Catalan bell, Spanish bello and Portuguese belo.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as bel in the Séquence de sainte Eulalie (about 881), of a being pleasing to the eye.[2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

From the first texts bel described what pleases the eye, in a being (about 881), a thing (about 980) or a natural phenomenon (1080), and also what pleases the ear.[2] The link between “beautiful”, “good” and “well”, already present in Latin, still shapes the word's senses.[2] From the 10th century it was a flattering term of address (about 980), and this use explains the kinship terms beau-frère (1386), belle-mère (1429), beau-père (1466) and belle-fille (about 1470), which ousted older words of Latin origin such as serorge, fillâtre and suire.[2][4]

Said of people, it came to mean “well dressed, smartened up” (se faire beau, se faire belle).[2] The derivative beauté dates from about 1080, and belette (13th century) is a euphemism, “the pretty one”, meant to ward off the animal's harm.[4] English borrowed beau “fop” (1680s) and “suitor” (1720), and belle (1620s).[7]

Timeline

  • c. 881 – Bel in the Séquence de sainte Eulalie.[8][2]
  • c. 980 – A flattering term of address.[2]
  • c. 1080 – Beltet “beauty” in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1386 – Beau-frère.[4]
  • 1466 – Beau-père.[4]
  • 1620s – English borrows belle.[7]
  • 1680s – English beau “fop”.[7]
  • 1794 – Se mettre sur son beau “to dress up”.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Beautiful, handsome: une belle femme, un bel homme.[8][1]
  2. Fine, nice: il fait beau, du beau temps.[1][8]
  3. Morally fine, noble: une belle action.[8][2]
  4. Considerable: une belle somme, un beau jour, one fine day.[8]
  5. Ironically, of something bad: un beau gâchis.[8]
  6. Avoir beau + infinitive: to do something in vain: J'ai beau crier, il n'entend pas.[1][8]

Noun

  1. Le beau: the beautiful, beauty as an aesthetic value.[6]
  2. Un vieux beau: an old dandy, faire le beau, of a dog, to sit up and beg.[6][9]
  3. Une belle: a beautiful woman; one's sweetheart.[6]
  4. (Louisiana) A boyfriend.[1]

Word family

  • beau-
  • beaux-arts
  • bellâtre
  • bellement
  • beauté
  • belette
  • bellot
  • beaucoup
  • beau-père
  • belle-fille
  • belle-sœur
  • embellissement
  • embellie

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 319a
  6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF