belle
/bɛl/ noun, proper noun
Forms belles
- noun An attractive woman. “In her new dress she felt like the belle of the ball.”
- noun (dated) A fellow gay man.
- proper noun A female given name from French.
- proper noun A surname from French
- proper noun A female given name from English.
Etymology
From French belle (“beautiful”), from Latin bella.
From French belle (“beauty, beautiful”), from Latin bella.
Diminutive of Isabelle and Annabelle.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A young lady of superior beauty and attractions; a handsome lady, or one who attracts notice in society; a fair lady.
Etymology [F. belle, fem. of bel, beau, beautiful, fine. See Beau.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “belle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details