different between beau vs mistress
beau
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French beau, from Latin bellus (“beautiful”). Doublet of bello.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /b??/
- (General American) IPA(key): /bo?/
- (UK)
- Homophone: bow
- Rhymes: -??
Noun
beau (plural beaux or beaus)
- (dated) A man with a reputation for fine dress and etiquette; a dandy or fop.
- 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 21
- “I do not 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 mens’[sic] being beaux—they have something else to do.”
- 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, chapter 21
- (dated) A male lover; a boyfriend.
- 1917, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, p. 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.
- 2009, Philippa Bourke, Monsters and Critics [1], Dec 10, 2009:
- Kristin Davis has taken time out to enjoy the surf and sand with her Australian beau, photographer Russell James.
- 1917, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, p. 142:
- A male escort.
- A suitor of a lady.
Translations
See also
- beau-
- beautiful
- Beau
References
- beau in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Anagrams
- Aube, aube
Aromanian
Alternative forms
- beu
Etymology
From Latin bib?. Compare Romanian bea, beau.
Verb
beau (third-person present singular indicative bea, past participle biutã)
- I drink
Related terms
- beari/beare
- biut
- biutor
- biuturã
- parabeau
French
Etymology
From Middle French beau, from Old French biau, bel, from Latin bellus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bo/
- Rhymes: -o
- Homophones: bau, baux, beaux, bot, bots
Adjective
beau (masculine singular before vowel bel, feminine singular belle, masculine plural beaux, feminine plural belles)
- handsome, fine, attractive
- nice
- fair (weather)
Usage notes
- To avoid hiatus, the form bel is used before masculine singular nouns that begin with a vowel or mute h.
Derived terms
Descendants
- ? English: beau, Beau, belle, Belle
Noun
beau m (plural beaux)
- (Louisiana) boyfriend
Coordinate terms
- belle
- blonde
- femme
- gars
- homme
Further reading
- “beau” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
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(key): /b?u?/
- Rhymes: -?u?
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.
Adjective
beau m (feminine singular belle, masculine plural beaux, feminine plural belles)
- beautiful; handsome; attractive
Descendants
- French: beau
Old French
Adjective
beau m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bele)
- Alternative form of biau
Declension
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [be?aw]
Verb
beau
- first-person singular present indicative of bea
- first-person singular present subjunctive of bea
- third-person plural present indicative of bea
- third-person plural imperfect indicative of bea
beau From the web:
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mistress
English
Etymology
From Middle English maistresse and Old French maistresse (French maîtresse), feminine of maistre (“master”). This may be broken down as mister +? -ess.
Pronunciation
- enPR: m?s?tr?s, IPA(key): /?m?st??s/
Noun
mistress (plural mistresses)
- A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership
- Synonyms: (applicable to either sex) boss, (applicable to either sex) head, (applicable to either sex) leader
- male equivalent: master
- A female teacher
- Synonym: schoolmarm
- male equivalent: master
- The other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations
- Synonyms: (applicable to either sex) bit on the side, fancy woman, comaré, goomah; see also Thesaurus:mistress
- Antonyms: cicisbeo, fancy man
- A dominatrix
- male equivalent: master
- 2006, Amelia May Kingston, The Triumph of Hope (page 376)
- As part of BDSM play they can enhance the domineering tread of a mistress or hobble the steps of a slave.
- A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it
- A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic.
- a woman regarded with love and devotion; a sweetheart
- (Scotland) A married woman; a wife
- (obsolete) The jack in the game of bowls
- A female companion to a master (a man with control, authority or ownership)
- female equivalent of master
- female equivalent of mister
Usage notes
In the extramarital sense, mistress is often narrowly taken to mean a woman involved in a committed extramarital relationship (an affair), often supported financially (a kept woman). It can also be broadly taken to mean a woman involved in an extramarital relationship regardless of the level of commitment, but requires more than a single act of adultery.
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
mistress (third-person singular simple present mistresses, present participle mistressing, simple past and past participle mistressed)
- (transitive, rare) Of a woman: to master; to learn or develop to a high degree of proficiency.
- (intransitive) To act or take the role of a mistress.
See also
- (titles) (of a man): Mr (Mister, mister), Sir (sir); (of a woman): Ms (Miz, mizz), Mrs (Mistress, mistress), Miss (miss), Dame (dame), (of a non-binary person): Mx (Mixter); (see also): Dr (Doctor, doctor), Madam (madam, ma'am) (Category: en:Titles)
References
mistress From the web:
- what mistress means
- what mistresses should know
- what mistress means in spanish
- what mistresses did kings have
- mistress what does it mean
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- what is mistress carrie real name
- what is mistress of the robes
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