goatee
nounUK /ɡəʊˈtiː/ · US /ˌɡoʊˈtiː/
Etymology From goat + -ee (diminutive suffix), referring to the tuft of hair on the chin of many domestic goats.
1
A beard trimmed to grow only at the center of the chin.
- One person sports a goatee, the hair refusing to grow on the sides of his physiognomy; the chin of another is as smooth as a baby's cheek,—he contents himself with a modest moustache and a faint attempt at an imperial; while a few of the upper classes rejoice in all the varieties.1845 February, “Editors' Table”, in The Williams Monthly Miscellany, volume 1, number 8, page 367:
- The terrorist, as he called himself, was old and bald, with a narrow, snow-white wisp of a goatee hanging limply from his chin.1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter III, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, London: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1907, →OCLC, page 44:
1 more example
- "Yes, sir, behind you. He is a man of middle size, rather inclined to shortness. He is old, over sixty, with white hair, curved nose and a white, small beard of the variety that is called goatee."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019: