"beauty" in seven languages

Meaningbeauty

Spanish

belleza

/beˈʝeθa/

fem.other source · bello 'beautiful' + suffix -eza (Latin -ITIA)

French

beauté

/bote/

fem.inherited

Italian

bellezza

/belˈlettsa/

fem.other source · bello 'beautiful' + suffix -ezza (Latin -ITIA)

Portuguese

beleza

/beˈlezɐ/

fem.other source · belo 'beautiful' + suffix -eza (Latin -ITIA)

Romanian

frumusețe

/frumuˈsetse/

fem.other source · frumos 'beautiful' (Latin FORMŌSUM) + -ețe

Catalan

bellesa

/bəˈʎɛzə/

fem.other source · bell 'beautiful' + suffix -esa (Latin -ITIA)

English

beauty

/ˈbjuti/

from Latin/French · Old French biauté

English → ItalianbeautybellezzaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: belle, embellish, beau.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

*BELLITĀTEM‘prettiness (from BELLUS 'pretty')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

BELLUS was the everyday Latin 'pretty'. French added -té and turned the l into u before it (beauté, which English took); Spanish and Italian used a different suffix, -eza / -ezza.

English relatives: belle, embellish, beau

Sound laws at work

L before a consonant becomes u -TĀTEM: -dad, -té, -tà

Learn it

Practice the Ideas deck Quiz a friend on it

In a sentence

esLa belleza del paisaje es impresionante.
frLa beauté du paysage est à couper le souffle.
itLa bellezza del paesaggio è mozzafiato.
ptA beleza da paisagem é de tirar o fôlego.
roFrumusețea peisajului îți taie respirația.
caLa bellesa del paisatge és impressionant.
enThe beauty of the landscape is breathtaking.

More in Ideas

All Ideas words