Belle Époque

• Belle Epoque, belle époque, belle epoque
• La Belle Époque, la Belle Époque, la belle époque

Borrowed from French Belle Époque (“good epoch”). See belle + epoque.

the Belle Époque (uncountable)

1. (history) A period of European history, extending over several decades until the start of the First World War, characterized by artistic and cultural refinement.
   • 1973, Raymond Rudorff, The Belle Époque: Paris in the Nineties, Saturday Review Press, page 240:

     Among these cultured hostesses, a leading figure in the belle époque was the Comtesse de Greffulhe.

   • 1994, Jennifer R. Waelti-Walters, Steven C. Hause, editors, Feminisms of the Belle Epoque: A Historical and Literary Anthology, University of Nebraska Press:
   • 2008, Ellen Hymowitz, “1900-1918”, in Jill Condra, editor, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History, Volume 3: 1801 to the Present, Greenwood Press, page 89:

     Spanning the turn of the century and capitalizing on fortunes accumulated before the democratizing notion of income tax existed, the Belle Époque held out a lavish style of life to the relative few who could afford it.

2. (by extension) (aesthetic) A style of art and architecture characterized by opulence, eclecticism, and organic dynamism, blending historical revival styles (Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic) with the flowing lines of Art Nouveau, utilizing new materials like iron and glass for decorative elements, and celebrating modern life with vibrant colors and natural motifs, reflecting the era's optimism, luxury, and technological progress.

• By convention, the period extends from the end of the Franco-Prussian War to the outbreak of World War I: i.e., from 1871 to 1914. The beginning of said period coincides with the birth (1870) of the French Third Republic—as well as the start (1873) of the Long Depression. The term became popular in France in the 1930s, apparently in nostalgic reference to a mythologised time before WWI.^[1]

• Edwardian
• Pax Britannica

Literally, “beautiful epoch”, coined in the 1930s.

• IPA^(key): /bɛl e.pɔk/

la Belle Époque f

1. (history, aesthetic) Belle Époque

• → English: Belle Époque