beau

See also: Beau and beau-

Contents

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French beau, from Latin bellus (“beautiful”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bəʊ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /boʊ/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Homophone: bow
• Rhymes: -əʊ

Noun

beau (plural beaux or beaus)

1. (dated) A man with a reputation for fine dress and etiquette; a dandy or fop.
   • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 21

     “I do not comprehend the meaning of the word. But this I can say, that if he ever was a beau before he married, he is one still, for there is not the smallest alteration in him.”

     “Oh! dear! one never thinks of married mens’^[sic] being beaux—they have something else to do.”

2. (dated) A male lover; a boyfriend.
   • 1917, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, p. 142:

     Hannah's beau takes all her time 'n' thought, and when she gits a husband her mother'll be out o' sight and out o' mind.

   • 2009, Philippa Bourke, Monsters and Critics [1], Dec 10, 2009:

     Kristin Davis has taken time out to enjoy the surf and sand with her Australian beau, photographer Russell James.

3. A male escort.
4. A suitor of a lady.

Translations

dandy

• Bulgarian: конте (konte), франт m (frant)
• Czech: švihák m
• Finnish: keikari (fi), hienostelija (fi)
• German: Beau (de) m

• Hungarian: piperkőc (hu)
• Interlingue: dandy
• Polish: dandys (pl) m
• Russian: де́нди (ru) m (dɛ́ndi), франт (ru) m (frant), щёголь (ru) m (ščógolʹ)

boyfriend — see boyfriend

See also

• beau-
• beautiful
• Beau

References

• beau in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Aube, aube

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Aromanian

Etymology

From Latin bibō. Compare Romanian bea, beau.

Verb

beau (third-person present singular indicative bea, past participle biutã)

1. I drink

Related terms

• beari/beare
• biut
• biutor
• biuturã
• parabeau

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French

Etymology

From Middle French beau, from Old French biau, bel, from Latin bellus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bo/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -o
• Homophones: bau, baux, beaux, bot, bots

Adjective

beau (masculine singular before vowel bel, feminine singular belle, masculine plural beaux, feminine plural belles)

1. handsome, fine, attractive
2. nice
3. fair (weather)

   Il fait beau.

   It is nice out.

Usage notes

• To avoid hiatus, the form bel is used before masculine singular nouns that begin with a vowel or mute h

Noun

beau m (plural beaux)

1. (Louisiana) boyfriend

Derived terms

• avoir beau
• bellâtre
• Bellefontaine
• bellement

Further reading

• “beau” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• aube

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Middle French

Alternative forms

• bel

Etymology

From Old French beau, one of the variants of biau.

Adjective

beau m (feminine singular belle, masculine plural beaux, feminine plural belles)

1. beautiful; handsome; attractive

Descendants

• French: beau

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Old French

Adjective

beau m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bele)

1. Alternative form of biau
   • circa 1190, Marie de France, Lai de Isclavret:

     beaus chevalers e bons esteit
     e noblement se cunteneit.

     Hansome knight and good was he
     and he behaved nobly.

Declension

Declension of beau

Number	Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	Subject	beaus	bele	beau
	Oblique	beau	bele	beau
Plural	Subject	beau	beles	beau
	Oblique	beaus	beles	beau

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bʲæw]

Verb

beau

1. first-person singular present indicative of bea
2. first-person singular present subjunctive of bea
3. third-person plural present indicative of bea
4. third-person plural imperfect indicative of bea