Where does “beautiful” come from?
Beautiful comes from Middle English bewteful, derived from Middle English bewte, meaning physical attractiveness or comeliness.
beautiful (English): Attractive and possessing beauty; Pleasant;...
Definitions
- Attractive and possessing beauty; Pleasant;...
Ancestry of “beautiful”, step by step
beautiful traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English beauty
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | beauty | The quality of being attractive, pleasing, fine... |
| 2 | Middle English | beaute | The quality of being physically appealing;... |
| 3 | Old French | biauté | beauty |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | bellitas | beauty |
| 5 | Latin | bellus | beautiful, pretty, handsome; pleasant, agreeable,... |
| 6 | Latin | villus | hair, tuft of hair, shaggy hair |
| 7 | Latin | vellus | The wool shorn from a sheep; fleece; wool; The... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂welh₁- | to rule; strong, powerful; hair; wool |
via Middle English bewteful
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | bewteful | — |