# beau
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English beau, beu, bew, bewe, from Old French beau, from Latin bellus (“beautiful”). Doublet of bello and boo.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /bəʊ/
** Audio:(file)
* (General American) IPA: /boʊ/
* Homophone: bow
* Rhymes: -əʊ

### Noun

beau (plural beaux or beaus)
* (dated) A man with a reputation for fine dress and etiquette; a dandy or fop.
    Synonyms: blood, popinjay; see also Thesaurus:dandy
    Coordinate term: belle
** 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter XXI, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume I, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 290:“[…]—I suppose your brother was quite a beau, Miss Dashwood, before he married, as he was so rich?” “Upon my word,” replied Elinor, “I cannot tell you, for I do not perfectly 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 men’s being beaux—they have something else to do.”
** 1824, Cut and Come again [pseudonym], “On Cutting”, in Tobias Merton [pseudonym; Samuel Egerton Brydges and Egerton Anthony Brydges], editor, The Literary Magnet of the Belles Lettres, Science, and the Fine Arts: […], volume II, London: William Charlton Wright, […], page 19:[H]e could not but turn with ineffable contempt to the tawdry beaus and belles from the city, who presumed to mingle in the fashionable gala.
* (dated, US, Canada) A male lover; a boyfriend.
    Synonyms: suitor, swain; see also Thesaurus:lover
** 1917, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, page 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.
** 1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 8”, in Emily of New Moon:“I don’t see how. But anyhow, you’ll be rich some day—your Aunt Elizabeth will likely leave you all her money, Mother says. So I don’t care if you are living on charity—I love you and I’m going to stick up for you. Have you got a beau, Emily?” “No,” cried Emily, blushing violently and quite scandalized at the idea. “Why, I’m only eleven.”
** 2009 December 10, Philippa Bourke, Monsters and Critics‎:Kristin Davis has taken time out to enjoy the surf and sand with her Australian beau, photographer Russell James.
** 2012 October 24, Jon Caramanica, “No More Kid Stuff for Taylor Swift”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:Reporters ask her about her love life—her current beau is rumored to be Conor Kennedy, a grandson of Robert F. Kennedy—even if they get nowhere.
* A male escort.
    Synonyms: callboy, party boy; see also Thesaurus:prostitute
* A suitor of a lady.
    Synonyms: courter, sparker, wooer

#### Derived terms

* beau-catcher
* beauish
* beauless
* beauship
* beautillion
* unbeaued

#### Related terms

* beau geste
* beau idéal, beau ideal, beau-ideal
* beau joueur
* beau monde
* beau monde seasoning
* beau sabreur

#### Translations
### Verb

beau (third-person singular simple present beaus, present participle beauing, simple past and past participle beaued)
* (transitive, intransitive) To act as a beau (towards); to court or woo.
    Synonyms: put the moves on, romance; see also Thesaurus:woo
** 2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 74:Everyone was feeling grandacious, as if getting dressed for a night of beauing.

### See also

* beautiful

### References

* “beau”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* Aube, aube

## Aromanian
### Alternative forms

* beu

### Etymology

From Latin bibō. Compare Romanian bea, beau.

### Verb

beau first-singular present indicative (third-person singular present indicative bea, past participle biutã)
* to drink

#### Related terms

* beari / beare
* biut
* biutor
* biuturã
* parabeau

## French
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bo/
* Audio (Paris):(file)
* Rhymes: -o
* Homophones: bau, baud, bauds, baux, beaux (general), bot, bots (except regionally)

### Adjective

beau (masculine singular before vowel bel, feminine belle, masculine plural beaux, feminine plural belles)
* handsome, fine, attractive
* nice
* 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.

#### Derived terms

* a beau mentir qui vient de loin
* à belles dents
* à la belle étoile
* après la pluie, le beau temps
* au beau fixe
* au beau milieu de
* avoir beau
* avoir beau jeu
* avoir de beaux jours devant soi
* Beau
* beau comme le jour
* beau comme un cœur
* beau comme un dieu
* beau gosse
* beau parleur
* beau sexe
* Beaumont
* Beauregard
* beaux-arts
* bel esprit
* bel et bien
* bel étage
* bellâtre
* Belle
* belle infidèle
* belle lurette
* Bellefontaine
* bellement
* de plus belle
* du plus bel effet
* être dans de beaux draps
* être dans de sales draps
* faire la part belle
* faire la pluie et le beau temps
* faire le beau
* fais de beaux rêves
* la belle affaire
* l’échapper belle
* mourir de sa belle mort
* parler de la pluie et du beau temps
* poire belle Hélène
* trop beau pour être vrai

#### Descendants

* → English: beau, Beau, belle, Belle

### Noun

beau m (plural beaux)
* (Louisiana) boyfriend

#### Coordinate terms

* belle
* blonde
* femme
* gars
* homme

### Adverb

beau
* in vain
    J’ai beau triméNo matter how hard I try / Try as I might

### Further reading

* “beau”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* aube

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* beu, bew, bewe

### Etymology

From Old French bel, biau, from Latin bellus, from Old Latin *duenelos. Doublet of bel.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bɛu̯/
* Rhymes: -ɛu̯

### Adjective

beau
* good, fine

#### References

* “beau, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## Middle French
### Alternative forms

* bel

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbo/

### Adjective

beau m (feminine singular belle, masculine plural beaux, feminine plural belles)
* beautiful; handsome; attractive

#### Descendants

* French: beau

## Old French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bɛ̯aw/

### Adjective

beau m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bele)
* Alternative form of biau
** c. 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
## Romanian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /be̯aw/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -aw
* Hyphenation: beau

### Verb

beau
* inflection of bea:
** first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
** third-person plural present/imperfect indicative