English
beauty
Etymology

From Middle English bewty, bewte, beaute, bealte, from Anglo-Norman - and Old French beauté (early Old French spelling biauté), from Vulgar Latin *bellitātem, from Latin bellus; see beau.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈbjuːti/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈbjuti/, [-ɾi]
  • (Canada) IPA: [ˈbju̟ti], [ˈbju̟ːɾi], [ˈb(j)ɪu̯ɾ̥ɪ]
  • (Norfolk) IPA: /ˈbuːti/
Noun

beauty

  1. (uncountable) The quality of being (especially visually) attractive, pleasing, fine or good-looking; comeliness.
    • 1818, John Keats, “Book I”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC ↗, page 3 ↗, lines 1–5:
      A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: / Its loveliness increases; it will never / Pass into nothingness; but still will keep / A bower quiet for us, and a sleep / Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC ↗:
      ‘Say, hast thou seen enough!’ ‘I have looked on beauty, and I am blinded,’ I said hoarsely, lifting my hand to cover up my eyes.
    • 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC ↗:
      Warwick's first glance had revealed the fact that the young woman was strikingly handsome, with a stately beauty seldom encountered.
    • 1988, "… beauty and recollection, like danger, glamour, greed, hunger- everything but disappointment and desire- were concepts belonging to other people.” -Second Son, Robert Ferro
  2. Someone who is beautiful.
    Brigitte Bardot was a renowned beauty.
  3. (in the plural) Those aspects or elements that make someone or something beautiful.
  4. Something that is particularly good or pleasing.
    What a goal! That was a real beauty!
  5. An excellent or egregious example of something.
    He got into a fight and ended up with two black eyes – two real beauties!
  6. (with the definite article) The excellence or genius of a scheme or decision.
    The beauty of the deal is it costs nothing!
  7. (particle, obsolete) A beauty quark (now called bottom quark).
  8. Beauty treatment; cosmetology.
    a hair and beauty salon
    • 2013, Bethany Rooney, Mary Lou Belli, Directors Tell the Story, page 184:
      When the beauty team departs the set, the AD will say, “Let’s go on a bell.” A bell sounds throughout the stage, and […]
  9. (obsolete) Prevailing style or taste; rage; fashion.
    • 1653, Jeremy Taylor, “Twenty-five Sermons Preached at Golden Grove; Being for the Winter Half-year, […]: Sermon XVIII. [The Marriage Ring; or, The Mysteriousness and Duties of Marriage.] Part II.”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume V, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC ↗, page 277 ↗:
      Menander in the comedy brings in a man turning his wife from his house, because she stained her hair yellow, which was then the beauty.
  10. (archaic, in the plural) Beautiful passages or extracts of poetry.
Synonyms Antonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Interjection
  1. (Canada) Thanks!
  2. (Canada) Cool!
    It's the long weekend. Beauty!
Adjective

beauty

  1. (Canada) Of high quality, well done.
    He made a beauty pass through the neutral zone.
Verb

beauty (beauties, present participle beautying; simple past and past participle beautied)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To make beautiful.


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