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beauté

Etymology and origin of the French word beauté

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (beltet)
From
Old French beltet
Ultimate origin
Latin (bellus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bo.te/[1]

Forms

beauté f (plural beautés)[1] Old French beltet (1080), biauté, beauté (about 1160).[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French beltet, from bel (beau), or from Vulgar Latin *bellitās (“beauty”) (accusative “*bellitātem”), from Latin bellus (“pretty, handsome”).[4][2][5][6][1] Classical Latin “bellus” meant pretty, graceful, and replaced the more elevated Latin pulcher in most of Romance.[6]

Compare Old Occitan beltat, Spanish beldad and Italian beltà.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) says of a knight that pur sa beltet dames li sunt amies, “for his beauty ladies are his friends”.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word means the quality of what is beautiful, especially of a person; by metonymy une beauté is a beautiful woman (1250–1300).[4] Unlike beau, it developed few senses other than aesthetic ones, though one speaks of moral beauties.[4] Phrases include de toute beauté “magnificent”, en beauté “in style”, and se faire une beauté “to doll oneself up”, l'île de Beauté is Corsica.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Beltet, Chanson de Roland.[3][5]
  • c. 1160 – Beauté.[2]
  • 1250–1300 – Une beauté, a beautiful woman.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. beauty: la beauté d'un paysage, de toute beauté, finir en beauté.[7][1]
  2. A person's beauty, good looks: produits de beauté, institut de beauté, se faire une beauté.[7]
  3. Une beauté: a beautiful woman.[4][7]
  4. (plural) The fine features or passages (of a work, a place).[7][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Beauté.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/beaut%C3%A9. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·