▪ I.beauty,n.|ˈbjuːtɪ|Forms: 3 bealte, buute, 3–4 beute, 4 beuaute, bewtee, 4–5 bewte, 4–6 beaute, 5 beaultye, bewete, boutte, 5–6 beaulte, 6 beaulty, beawtye, bewtie, -tye, 6–7 beautie, 7 beuty, 6– beauty.[ME.bealte, beute, a.OF.bealte, beaute, biaute, earlier beltet,mod.beauté, (cogn. withPr.beltat, beutat,Sp.beldad,It.beltà):—late L. *bellitātem,f.bellus beautiful: see -ty.]I.abstractly.(1756 Burke Subl. & B. iii. xii. (1808) 235Beauty is, for the greater part, some quality in bodies acting mechanically upon the human mind by the intervention of the senses.1784J. BarryLect.Art ii. (1848) 103According to the definitions generally given, Beauty consists of unity and gradual variety; or unity, variety, and harmony..Our rule for judging of the mode and degree of this combination of variety and unity seems to be no other than that of its fitness and conformity to the designation of each species.1827HareGuesses (1859) 77Beauty is perfection unmodified by a predominating expression.)1.Such combined perfection of form and charm of colouring as affords keen pleasure to the sense of sight:a.in the human face or figure.c1275in WrightLyric P. xvi. 53Heo is cristal of clannesse, Ant baner of bealte.c1325E.E.Allit.P. A. 764He ȝef me myȝt & als bewte.c1350Will.Palerne 4074A worschipful lady, þat burde was of beuaute briȝtest in erþe.c1485E.E.Misc.(Warton) 10Alle owre pryd, owre jollytte and fayre boutte.1485CaxtonChas.Gt.240Samblant to..Absalon in beaulte!1592Shakes.Rom.& Jul. v. iii. 94Beauties ensigne yet Is Crymson in thy lips.1651HobbesLeviath. iii. xxxiv. 212A Man, or Child of never so great beauty.1711PopeRape Lock ii. 28Fair tresses man's imperial race insnare, And beauty draws us with a single hair.1847TennysonPrinc.ii. 20There sat..All beauty compass'd in a female form, The Princess.b.of other objects.1340HampolePr.Consc.7857Þare es bryghtnes and bewte Of alle thing þat men salle þare se.1413Lydg.Pylgr. Sowle iv. xxviii. (1483) 74The wonderful beaute of creatures.c1532Ld.Berners Huon (1883) 412The rychesse and beaulty of that chaumbre can not be dyscryuyd.1752JohnsonRambl.No.192 ⁋5Describing the beauty of his brother's seat.1818KeatsEndym. i. 1A thing of beauty is a joy for ever; Its loveliness increases: it will never Pass into nothingness.2.That quality or combination of qualities which affords keen pleasure to other senses (e.g. that of hearing), or which charms the intellectual or moral faculties, through inherent grace, or fitness to a desired end;cf.beautiful a. 3.c1300Cursor M. 14115Of all thing scho[Mary]tok till ane, widvten quam es buute[v.r. beute]nane.c1449PecockRepr. 255To speke and write the wordis in sum gaynes and bewte.1599ThynneAnimadv. (1875) 56The dialecte of oure tonge, whiche withe beawtye vsethe suche transmutacione.1677GaleCrt.Gentiles II. iv. 17Beautie is defined by Plato the Fulgor, i.e. Lustre of Good.1860EmersonCond. Life viii. 168We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end.1876HamertonIntell.Life ii. ii. 62The beauty and solidity of the moral constitution.1876GreenShortHist.viii. §10 (1882) 584The large but ordered beauty of form which he[Milton]had drunk in from the literature of Greece and Rome.†3.The prevailing fashion or standard of the beautiful. Obs.a1667Jer.Taylor (in Webster)She stained her hair yellow, which was then the beauty.4.The abstract quality (esp.in sense 1 a) personified.1667MiltonP.L. vii. 533The charm of Beauties powerful glance.1730ThomsonAutumn 209Thoughtless of beauty, she was beauty's self.a1842TennysonGardener'sDau.57Such a lord is Love, And Beauty such a mistress of the world.II.concr.5. a.A beautiful person or thing; esp.a beautiful woman. (Often used ironically). Also applied colloquially to an exceptionally good specimen of something (as a ball in cricket, a blow, etc.);cf.beaut.1483CaxtonGold.Leg.273/2,I haue loued the ouer late, thou beaulte.1596Shakes.Merch.V. iii. ii. 99The beautious scarfe Vailing an Indian beautie.1711AddisonSpect.No.37 ⁋4Leonora was formerly a celebrated Beauty, and is still a very lovely Woman.1753HogarthAnal.Beauty i. 14When a vessel sails well, the sailors always call her a beauty.1826DisraeliViv. Grey v. vi. (1868) 173He was to be introduced to some of the most fashionable beauties.1832CarletonTraits Irish Peasant 380Faith, you're a beauty, Elisha.1882Australians in England 1882 46Spofforth was bowled by a ‘beauty’ from Mycroft.1897I. ScottHow I stole 10,000 Sheep inAustral.iii. 11Our own dogs..turned out to be ‘beauties’.1899J. BellShadow of Bush viii. 46,I saw a beauty of a two-bladed knife at Buncombe's store.1923J. ManderStrange Attraction vi. 71,I had a beauty of a little boat.1924WodehouseBill the Conqueror viii. 147She..swung her right and plugged Slingsby a perfect beauty in the eye.b.collectively, The beautiful women, etc.1611Bible2Sam.i. 19The beauty of Israel is slaine vpon thy high places.1613Shakes.Hen.VIII, i. iii. 55There will be The Beauty of this Kingdome.1816ByronCh.Har. iii. xxi,Belgium's capital had gather'd then Her Beauty and her Chivalry.c.In various collectors' names of butterflies and moths.1766M. HarrisAurelian:Nat.Hist.Moths & Butterflies 19The Brindled Beauty..prettily diamonded on the Back with black, and spotted with yellow.1832J. RennieConsp. Butterfl. & M. 104The Oak Beauty (Biston prodromarius, Leach). The Brindled Beauty (Biston hirtarius, Leach).1847[see Camberwell Beauty].1921Conquest Sept. 495/3The Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria)..has a particularly handsome black form.6. a.A beautiful feature or trait; an embellishment, ornament, grace, charm.1563ShuteArchit.D iij a,The which is a beautie vnto the whole Coronix.1611BiblePs.cx. 3In the beauties of holinesse.1711PopeRape Lock iv. 170These, in two sable ringlets taught to break, Once gave new beauties to the snowy neck.1712AddisonSpec.291 ⁋7To discover the concealed Beauties of a Writer.1849MacaulayHist.Eng.II. 630The one beauty of the resolution is its inconsistency.1860TyndallGlac.i. §1. 1Guided by a friend who knew the country, I became acquainted with its chief beauties.b.pl.In the titles of collections of the beautiful or choice passages of a writer or speaker, or examples ofart.1737(title)The Beauties of the English Stage, consisting of all the celebrated passages, soliloquies, similies, descriptions and other poetical beauties in the English plays, etc.1752W. Dodd (title)The Beauties of Shakespear, regularly selected from each play.1767(title)The Beauties of English Poesy. Selected by Oliver Goldsmith.1786(title)The beauties of the British Senate, taken from the debates of the Lords and Commons.1860Athenæum 31 Mar. 442/1It might have been fancied that the days of ‘Beauties’, ‘Gems’, ‘Anthologies’ were over.1865(title)Beauties of Poetry and Art.7.Colloq.phrases, as †it was great beauty (obs.): it was a fine sight. that's the beauty of it:i.e.the feature or phase that affords special pleasure and satisfaction.1523Ld.Berners Froiss. I. xli. 57It was a great beauty to beholde the baners and standerdes wauyng.Ibid.cxliv. 172Hit was great beautie to beholde their puyssant array.1754RichardsonGrandison III. xviii. 159That's the beauty of it; to offend and make up at pleasure.8.beauty of wildness: seequot.1611J. GuillimHeraldry iii. xiv. (1660) 174Foresters and Hunters do call this yearly mewing of their heads, the beauty of their wildnesse: not the Mewing of their Horns.III.Comb.a.poet., as beauty-bow, beauty-crest, beauty-in-the-ghost; beauty-beaming, beauty-blooming, beauty-blushing, beauty-breathing, beauty-bright, beauty-clad, beauty-drunken, beauty-waning.b.Also beauty-bloom, beautiful tint or colour; beauty contest, a competition of women for a prize or distinction awarded to the most beautiful; beauty culture chiefly U.S., use of cosmetics, etc., to improve a person's appearance; hence beauty culturist; also beauty doctor, beauty specialist; †beauty-man Obs., a handsome fellow, a dandy, a lady's man; beauty-manner, the bearing of a ‘beauty’; †beauty-mock, an imitation of beauty; beauty parlourorig.U.S., an establishment in which the trade of a beauty specialist is carried on; beauty-proof a, proof against the influence of beauty; beauty queenorig.U.S., name given to the winner of a beauty contest; beauty salon=beauty parlour;cf.salon 4; beauty shop U.S.=beauty parlour; beauty show=beauty contest; beauty-sleep, the sleep secured before midnight; beauty treatment, the use of cosmetics, etc., in order to improve personal beauty; beauty-wash, a liquid employed to preserve or heighten beauty, a cosmetic.a.1594Shakes.Rich.III, iii. vii. 185A Beautie-waining and distressed Widow.1595ChapmanBanq. Sence (1639) 23This Beauty-clad naked lady.1597DraytonMortimer. 13This beauty-blushing orient of his rise.1727ThomsonSummer,All the varied hues Their beauty-beaming parent can disclose.1813ByronGenevra 10When from his beauty-breathing pencil born..The Magdalen of Guido saw the morn.1818KeatsEndym. i. 363To nightly call Vesper, the beauty-crest of summer weather.a1889G. M. HopkinsPoems (1918) 83Rough-Robin or five-lipped campion clear For a beauty-bow to his hat.a1889Ibid.(1918) 56Beauty-in-the-ghost, deliver it, early now, long before death Give beauty back.1928YeatsTower 62The Great Mother, mourning for her daughter And beauty-drunken by the water.b.1853KingsleyHypatia xxv. 318Young Apollo, with the *beauty-bloom upon his chin!1899A. M. BinsteadGal's Gossip v. 77Just the sort of woman who could apparently hold her own either in a *beauty contest, a political debate, or a scrape.1933J. B. PriestleyWonder Hero iv. 129She had won a beauty contest, and was probably easily the prettiest girl staying in the hotel.1909Harper's Bazaar Feb. 172 (title)Modern *beauty culture.1911W. A. Woodbury (title)Beauty Culture: A Practical Handbook on the Care of the Person.1928Punch 5 Sept. 280/1Valuable information which is afforded about domestic economy, feminine attire, cookery, beauty-culture.1933TimesLit.Suppl.29 June 448/4A small American town, whose main interests are bridge, poker, ‘beauty-culture’ and gossip.1911W. A. WoodburyBeauty Cult. 14The successful *beauty culturist must, above all, be modest, tactful, and discreet.1919Honey Pot I. iii. 40Dr. Caissarate, that wonderful beauty culturist.1905E. WhartonHouse of Mirth ii. ix. 430A strange throng of hangers-on—manicures, *beauty-doctors, hair-dressers.1921Dict.Occup.Terms (1927) §920Beauty specialist, beauty doctor.1837LyttonErnest Maltrav. I. ii. ii. 181The *Beauty-man is, nine times out of ten, little more than the oracle of his aunts, and the ‘sitch a love’ of the housemaids.1860Temple BarMag.I. 68A beauty-man, who rides and dances well.1888F. HumeMystery of Hansom Cab xix. 130A clergyman..preached a sermon to prove that good looks and crime were closely connected, and that both Judas Iscariot and Nero were beauty-men.1598SylvesterDu Bartas ii. iv. iv.Argt.(1641) 227Achabs Stock, With his proud Queen (a painted *Beauty-mock).1908Harper's Weekly 24 Oct. 22/1The *‘beauty parlors’ of a large department store. There are a number of booths divided off by wooden partitions.1932Daily Express 20 Sept. 5/5,I have decided to go into a beauty parlour when I grow up.1938E. BowenDeath of Heart ii. iv. 244She was the receptionist in Southstone's biggest beauty parlour.1753RichardsonGrandison (1781) III. xiv. 105,I am *Beauty-proof.1922N.Y.Times 5 Sept. 19/6The winning beauty will be heralded as America's *‘Beauty Queen’.1933J. B. PriestleyWonder Hero iii. 86The girl who's just won the Morning Pictorial's beauty competition..the Beauty Queen.1960Guardian 11 June 7/4Seventeen national beauty queens compete for the title ‘Miss Europe’.1922Amer.Hairdresser Sept. 114/1A. Simonson on September 5 opened new *beauty salons at 54 West 57th street.1954J. L. MorseUnicornBk.1953 18/2Beauty salons had special prices.1982Amer.Speech LVII. 187No doubt many of the businesses listed in the ‘Yellow Pages’ under Beauty Salon are actually incorporated.1901CurrentLit.Apr. 446/1The Oldest *Beauty-Shop.1939A. HuxleyAfter many a Summer i. i. 6Next door to the beauty shoppe was a Western Union office.1948MenckenAmer.Lang.Suppl.I. 573Beauty-parlor began to appear before World War I, and soon afterward it was displaced by beauty-shop. Sometimes the latter is spelled beauty-shoppe, or even beauté-shoppe.1969B. KnoxTallyman vii. 132Janey Milton..on her way to have her hair set at a local beauty shop.1896C. S.Leaves from Diary in Lower Bengal v. 74The idea occurred to him to have a *Beauty Show of our servants..the prize to be given to the ugliest.1907G. B. ShawLet.7 Sept. (1941) 37You would make me a curtain-raiser for a beauty show.1857KingsleyTwo Y. Ago II. xv. 148A medical man, who may be called up at any moment, must make sure of his ‘*beauty-sleep.’1907M. E. BraddonDead Love has Chains vii. 148She must have *beauty-specialists, massage, electricity.1938N. MarshDeath in White Tie xxix. 305Mrs. Halcut-Hackett..looking like a beauty-specialist's mistake.1928B. Bushby (title)Postal Tuition Course of *Beauty Treatment.1934R. MacaulayGoing Abroad xxxiii. 282Beauty treatment is never cheap.1709SteeleTatlerNo.34 ⁋2The only true Cosmetick or *Beauty-Wash in the World.Senses II. 5–8 inDict.become II. 6–9. Add:[I.]5.Particle Physics.[An arbitrary choice of name.]=bottomn.17.1977[see bottomn.17].1978Proc.IndianNat.Sci.Acad.A. XLIV. 308 (heading)Beauty quark and new hadrons.1979[see truthn.8].1983Sci.Amer.July 98/1The first indication of the existence of quarks endowed with beauty came six years ago as the result of experiments in which a beam of high-energy protons was directed against a stationary target.1985DailyTel.7 May 18Scientists have succeeded in proving that ‘beauty’ exists... ‘Beauty’ lasts about one tenth of a millionth of a millionth of a second before decaying.▸ beauty markn.a small natural or artificial mark on the skin,esp.a mole or freckle on the face, which is considered to enhance a person's beauty;cf.beauty-spotn.1.1848H. MartineauEastern Life iv. 53Two who came from Dongola have their faces curiously gashed with three cuts on each cheek... These cuts are given them by their parents in childhood, for *beauty marks.1849Weekly Wisconsin (Milwaukee) (Electronic text) 11 JulyHer cheeks and forehead were spotted with beauty marks.1968F. ExleyFan's Notes ii. 60A sharp beauty mark right at her sensual mouth.1992A. KurzweilCase of Curiosities xxxv. 231Her makeup..began to drip. A tiny velvet beauty mark slid down her chin.▸ beauty pageantn.orig.U.S.=beauty contestn.at Compounds 2.1911Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 9 Apr. (Special Cable News section) a5/2 (heading)Pick blondes for *beauty pageant.1928W. Brooke GravesReadings in Public Opinion iv. 126Was the annual beauty pageant at Atlantic City objectionable on moral grounds?2006Guardian (Nexis) 1 June 29The Miss Europe beauty pageant has had contestants from Turkey, Israel and Lebanon.▪ II.ˈbeauty,v.arch.Also 4–5 bewtye, bewte, 6 beautye.[f.prec.n.]trans.To render beautiful; to beautify, adorn, deck.1398TrevisaBarth. De P.R. xvii. lxxiii. (1495) 647Floures..defoyleth not the yerde: but bewtyeth it.1525Ld.Berners Froiss. II. xlii. 131The Pecocke sayd, he is gretly beautyed by reason of my fethers.1602Shakes.Ham.iii. i. 51The Harlots Cheeke beautied with plaist'ring Art.1855SingletonVirgil I. 201The altars of the gods in wreathed festoons Are beautied.