beleza

Forms

beleza f (plural belezas)^[1] The 16th-century spelling was belleza, with ⟨ll⟩.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Old Occitan belleza, though Italian bellezza is also possible; both come from Vulgar Latin *bellitia, an abstract noun formed on Latin bellus (“pretty, handsome”).^[3][2][1] Machado leans towards Italian rather than Provençal, noting that the Vulgar Latin noun survives in the central Romance area.^[4] Aurélio derives it from the Vulgar Latin noun, possibly through Italian, and the DLP straight from Vulgar Latin.^[5][6] Within Portuguese it can be read as belo with the suffix -eza, and Michaelis analyses it so.^[1][7]

Spanish belleza and Catalan bellesa are parallel words.^[1] In Spanish the adjective bello itself came by way of Old Occitan bel, and the noun is recorded from the second quarter of the 15th century.^[8][9]

The Latin adjective is an old diminutive of bonus (“good”), from an Old Latin *duenelos, diminutive of duenos.^[1][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cardoso's dictionary of 1569 has Beleza, glossed with Latin pulchritudo and decor.^[12] Houaiss dates it to 1572, and Machado quotes the Lusíadas (IX, 76): Apos Efire, exemplo de belleza “after Ephyre, a model of beauty”.^[3][4] A woman named Beleza already appears in a document of Guarda of 1299, and Nascentes records Beleza as a surname that began as a nickname.^[13][14]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) gives beleza as another word for fermosura “beauty”.^[15] The original Caldas Aulete adds “a beautiful woman”, moral excellence (a beleza da virtude), and in the plural curls of hair worn by women on the cheeks.^[16] Houaiss places these belezas on the forehead, and the regional surveys record the word for a fringe in Portugal and for sideburns in Brazil.^[3][17]

Brazilian Portuguese made que beleza! an exclamation of approval and beleza an informal greeting and “OK”.^[18][1][16] In physics it names a quantum number, translating English beauty.^[5]

Timeline

• 1299 – Beleza as a woman's name in a document of Guarda.^[13]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary lists Beleza.^[12]
• 1572 – exemplo de belleza in the Lusíadas.^[4][3]
• 1611 – Barbosa equates it with fermosura.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. beauty: the quality of what is beautiful.^[3][5][1]
2. The quality of something that delights the senses; harmony and proportion of forms: a beleza das serras.^[3][16]
3. Moral or intellectual excellence that inspires admiration.^[3][6]
4. A beautiful person, especially a woman.^[3][5][19]
5. (informal) Something very pleasant, well done or tasty: O jantar estava uma beleza.^[3][5]
6. (in the plural) Small curls of hair worn on the forehead.^[3]
7. (physics) A quantum number of particles that contain a bottom quark.^[5]

Interjection

1. (Brazil, informal) A greeting: “how's it going?”.^[1]
2. (Brazil, informal) All right, okay, as a question or an answer.^[1][16]

Word family

• belezura
• belezinha
• belezão

Related words

• beldade
• belo
• Latin bellus
• Spanish belleza

Usage notes

Cansar a beleza de alguém is Brazilian informal for “to bore or pester someone”.^[3][5] In Rio Grande do Sul the proverb beleza não põe mesa says that good looks alone solve nothing.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. belo
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. beleza
4. ^ a b c Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. beleza
5. ^ a b c d e f g Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. beleza
6. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. beleza
7. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. beleza
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 562
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. bello
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. beau
12. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. beleza
13. ^ a b Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 187
14. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1952), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 2: Nomes próprios, Rio de Janeiro, p. 75
15. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. beleza
16. ^ a b c d Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. beleza
17. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. beleza
18. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. beleza
19. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. beleza