belle
/bɛl
/noun
A beautiful girl or woman, especially the most beautiful at a particular event: the belle of the ball...
- In a tribute to these stunning stars, I have chosen to profile some of the most beautiful Hollywood belles of all time.
- Saratoga may have been filled with beautiful belles, he acknowledges - but his own eldest daughter was ‘the loveliest of them all.’
- You could doll her up - and Hollywood did - all you wanted, and she'd be the prettiest belle at the ball.
Synonyms
beauty, beautiful woman, dream, vision, picture, pin-up, goddess, Venus, siren, charmer, enchantress, seductress
informal looker, good looker, lovely, sensation, stunner, knockout, bombshell, dish, cracker, smasher, bobby-dazzler, peach, honey, eyeful, sight for sore eyes, bit of all right
Origin
Early 17th century: from French, feminine of beau, from Latin bella, feminine of bellus 'beautiful'.
beauty from Middle English:
The Latin word bellus, ‘beautiful’, is the root of beauty, and also of a beau (late 17th century), and belle (early 17th century). The idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder is very old indeed, appearing in the works of the ancient Greek poet Theocritus (fl.3rd century bc). In English the proverb as we know it today is recorded from the 18th century. The warning that beauty is only skin-deep is known from the early 17th century. The beautiful game is soccer. The phrase is from the title of the 1973 autobiography by the Brazilian star Pelé, My Life and the Beautiful Game.