beauty

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.

1818, John Keats, “Book I”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 3, lines 1–5:

‘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.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Warwick's first glance had revealed the fact that the young woman was strikingly handsome, with a stately beauty seldom encountered.

1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:

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

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

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

(uncountable) The quality of being (especially visually) attractive, pleasing, fine or good-looking; comeliness.

Brigitte Bardot was a renowned beauty.

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.

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:

(in the plural) Those aspects or elements that make someone or something beautiful.

What a goal! That was a real beauty!

Something that is particularly good or pleasing.

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

An excellent or egregious example of something.

The beauty of the deal is it costs nothing!

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

(physics, obsolete) A beauty quark (now called bottom quark).

a hair and beauty salon

When the beauty team departs the set, the AD will say, “Let’s go on a bell.” A bell sounds throughout the stage, and […]

2013, Bethany Rooney, Mary Lou Belli, Directors Tell the Story, page 184:

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.

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:

(obsolete) Prevailing style or taste; rage; fashion.

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

en-noun

beauty (countable and uncountable, plural beauties)

→ Cebuano: byuti

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.


beauty

It's the long weekend. Beauty!


beauty

He made a beauty pass through the neutral zone.

en-adj

beauty (comparative more beauty, superlative most beauty)

more beauty (comparative)
most beauty (superlative)


beauty

(obsolete, transitive) To make beautiful.

en-verb

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

beauties (present singular third-person)
beautying (participle present)
beautied (participle past)
beautied (past)