▪ I. beau, a. and n.
(bəʊ)
Forms: 4– beau 4 bieu, 4–5 beu, 6 beaw; also in comb. 5 baw-, be-, bew-; see beausire.
[a. late OF. beau, biau, earlier bel, beal, bial:—L. bellus fine, pretty. The adj., in ME. quite naturalized and pronounced as in beauty, Beaulieu (bjuːlɪ), has been long obs.: the n. has been reintroduced from mod.Fr., whence its pronunciation.]
† A. adj.
1. Fair, beautiful. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 197 Al blysnande whyt watz hir beau uiys. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeless iii. 1 Now leue we þis beu brid. |
2. Used in affection, friendship, or politeness, in addressing relations, friends, etc. (usually with their French titles): equal to the English ‘fair’ (fair sir), ‘good’ (good people), ‘dear’ (dear sir). With some words it entered into more or less permanent combination: see beaupere, beausire, and bel-.
| c 1300 Beket 1903 Beau frere, quath Seint Thomas, that ne mai ich do noȝt. c 1314 Guy Warw. 4 Bieus amis, molt gramerci! 1513 Douglas Epilogue to Eneid, Lo, this is all, bew schirris haue gude day! |
B. n. Pl. beaux, beaus (bəʊz).
1. A man who gives particular, or excessive, attention to dress, mien, and social etiquette; an exquisite, a fop, a dandy.
| 1687 T. Brown Lib. Consc. in Dk. Buckhm's Wks. 1705 II. 128 You're a perfect Woman, nothing but a Beau will please you! 1700 Dryden Cock & Fox 624 What will not beaux attempt to please the fair? 1738 Birch Life of Milton in Wks. I. 20 Young Sparks of his Acquaintance..the Beaus of those Days. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. I. 341 The painted beau with..long, flimsy, sky-blue coat. |
2. The attendant or suitor of a lady; a lover, sweetheart.
| ? 1720 Mountford's Elegy in Collect. Poems 43 No Lady henceforth can be safe with her Beau. a 1777 Goldsm. Double Transform. 87 Her country beaux and city cousins, Lovers no more, flew off by dozens. a 1845 Hood Number One 1 It's very hard..that every Miss But me has got a Beau. 1875 B. Taylor Faust I. x. 130 If not a husband, then a beau for you! |
3. attrib., † beau-catcher, a kiss-curl. Obs.
| 1818 Publ. Ledger 18 Apr. 3/2 A girl..twisting her hair into rings, which they term ‘beau-catchers’. 1857 M. J. Holmes Meadow-Brook ii, Arranging just in front of her ears two spit curls, sometimes called ‘beau catchers’. 1909 Ware Passing Eng. 23/1 Beau-catcher, a flat hook-shaped curl, after the Spanish manner, gummed on each temple, and made of the short temple hair, spelt sometimes bow-catcher... Now obsolete on this side of the Pyrenees. |
▪ II. beau, v.
[f. prec. n.]
trans. To act the beau to, to attend or escort (a lady).
| 1843 Commissioner 411 Chevalier, you shall beau the young lady. 1878 Wingfield Lady Grizel I. viii. 151 His Grace..is to beau your ladyship to Ranelagh. |