Etymology From Middle English beau, beu, bew, bewe, from Old French beau, from Latin bellus (“beautiful”). Doublet of bello and boo.
1
Dated A man with a reputation for fine dress and etiquette; a dandy or fop.
“[…]—I suppose your brother was quite a beau, Miss Dashwood, before he married, as he was so rich?” “Upon my word,” replied Elinor, “I cannot tell you, for I do not perfectly 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 men’s being beaux—they have something else to do.”1811, [Jane Austen], chapter XXI, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume I, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 290:
[H]e could not but turn with ineffable contempt to the tawdry beaus and belles from the city, who presumed to mingle in the fashionable gala.1824, Cut and Come again [pseudonym], “On Cutting”, in Tobias Merton [pseudonym; Samuel Egerton Brydges and Egerton Anthony Brydges], editor, The Literary Magnet of the Belles Lettres, Science, and the Fine Arts: […], volume II, London: William Charlton Wright, […], page 19:
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.1917, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, page 142:
“I don’t see how. But anyhow, you’ll be rich some day—your Aunt Elizabeth will likely leave you all her money, Mother says. So I don’t care if you are living on charity—I love you and I’m going to stick up for you. Have you got a beau, Emily?” “No,” cried Emily, blushing violently and quite scandalized at the idea. “Why, I’m only eleven.”1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 8”, in Emily of New Moon:
2 more examples
Kristin Davis has taken time out to enjoy the surf and sand with her Australian beau, photographer Russell James.2009 December 10, Philippa Bourke, Monsters and Critics:
Reporters ask her about her love life—her current beau is rumored to be Conor Kennedy, a grandson of Robert F. Kennedy—even if they get nowhere.2012 October 24, Jon Caramanica, “No More Kid Stuff for Taylor Swift”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Etymology From Middle English beau, beu, bew, bewe, from Old French beau, from Latin bellus (“beautiful”). Doublet of bello and boo.
1
Ambitransitive To act as a beau (towards); to court or woo.
“[…] And now to think that Laura’s teaching school, and Almanzo Wilder’s beauing her home.” ”Oh, no! He isn’t!” Laura cried out. “It isn’t like that at all. He came for me as a favor to Pa.”1943, Laura Ingalls Wilder, These Happy Golden Years:
Everyone was feeling grandacious, as if getting dressed for a night of beauing.2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 74: