Wordwyrt

beau

/ˈbəʊ/BOH
/ˈboʊ/BOH

Meaningfine, fair

Common meaning: a boyfriend

Other meanings: a dandy

Journey through time

  1. Latinbellus‘fine, fair’source
  2. Old Frenchbelsource
  3. Frenchbeausource
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsfine, fair → a boyfriendbeau‘a boyfriend’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin bellus ‘fine, fair’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry bellus, p. 56 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • bellus Latin “pretty, fine”

Related words

beautybelleembellish

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