beauty

From Middle English bewty, bewte, beaute, bealte, from Anglo-Norman and Old French beauté (early Old French spelling biauté), from Vulgar Latin *bellitātem (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fair”); see beau. In this sense, mostly displaced native Old English fæġernes, whence Modern English fairness.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbjuːti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbjuti/, [-ɾi]
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [ˈbju̟ti], [ˈbju̟ːɾi], [ˈb(j)ɪu̯ɾ̥ɪ]

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (Norfolk) IPA^(key): /ˈbuːti/
• Homophone: booty (Norfolk)
• Rhymes: -uːti
• Hyphenation: beau‧ty

beauty (countable and uncountable, plural beauties)

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.

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 152:

     "The aviators didn't get him," Denham replied slowly. "What?" "It was Beauty. As always Beauty killed the Beast."

   • 1958 July, R. K. Kirkland, “Into the Mountains on the Festiniog Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 453:

     Much as one appreciates the beauty of these woodlands, it was good to learn that some discreet tree-felling may open up the view still further.

   • 1988, "… beauty and recollection, like danger, glamour, greed, hunger- everything but disappointment and desire- were concepts belonging to other people.” -Second Son, Robert Ferro
3. Someone who is beautiful.

   Brigitte Bardot was a renowned beauty.

   • 2004 April 13, Nick Paton Walsh, “Ample Alyona shakes up Russian pageant”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     The website calls a vote for Alyona a vote against "beauties who do not look natural and who cannot be distinguished from each other" and rails against the "imposed standards" of 90-60-90 vital statistics, and "cigarettes with out nicotine and coffee without caffeine".

4. (in the plural) Those aspects or elements that make someone or something beautiful.
   • 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iii:

     There the roſy-finger'd Spring, by the liquid mirror of a cryſtalline pool, was attiring her fair daughters in ſeven-fold ornaments, while the love-whiſpering breezes ſtole kiſſes as they paſſed, and fanned their glowing beauties.

5. Something that is particularly good or pleasing.

   What a goal! That was a real beauty!

6. An excellent or egregious example of something.

   He got into a fight and ended up with two black eyes – two real beauties!

7. (with the definite article) The excellence or genius of a scheme or decision.

   The beauty of the deal is it costs nothing!

8. (particle physics, obsolete) A beauty quark (now called bottom quark).
9. 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 […]

10. (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.

11. (archaic, in the plural) Beautiful passages or extracts of poetry.

• (property, quality): good-lookingness, gorgeousness, inspiration, loveliness, see Thesaurus:beauty
• (someone who is beautiful): belle, looker, good looker, see Thesaurus:beautiful person or Thesaurus:beautiful woman
• (something pleasing): gem, jewel

• (antonym(s) of “property, quality”): repulsiveness, homeliness, ugliness

• → Cebuano: byuti

• usefulness

beauty

1. (Canada) Thanks!
2. (Canada) Cool!

   It's the long weekend. Beauty!

beauty (comparative more beauty, superlative most beauty)

1. (Canada) Of high quality, well done.

   He made a beauty pass through the neutral zone.

beauty (third-person singular simple present beauties, present participle beautying, simple past and past participle beautied)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To make beautiful.

• “beauty”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “beauty”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Borrowed from English beauty.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbjuː.ti/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: beau‧ty

beauty f (plural beauty's, diminutive beauty'tje n)

1. a beauty, looker, beautiful person
2. a beautiful other creature or thing

   Die prachtige hengst is al net zo'n beauty als z'n ruiter

   That gorgeous stallion is as much of a beauty as his rider

3. human beauty, as the object or goal of cosmetics etc.

• schoonheid
• (beautiful thing only): juweeltje n, prachtexemplaar n