different between bedfellow vs beau

English

Etymology

From Middle English bedfelawe, equivalent to bed +? fellow.

Noun

bedfellow (plural bedfellows)

1. One with whom one shares a bed.

   Synonym: bedmate
2. (by extension) An associate, often an otherwise improbable one.

Derived terms

• strange bedfellows

Translations

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)

1. (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.”

2. (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.

3. A male escort.
4. 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)

1. 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)

1. handsome, fine, attractive
2. nice
3. 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)

1. (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

1. 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)

1. beautiful; handsome; attractive

Descendants

• French: beau

Old French

Adjective

beau m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bele)

1. Alternative form of biau

Declension

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [be?aw]

Verb

beau

1. first-person singular present indicative of bea
2. first-person singular present subjunctive of bea
3. third-person plural present indicative of bea
4. third-person plural imperfect indicative of bea