| 释义 |
▪ I. belle, a. and n.|bɛl|
[a. mod.F. (17th c.) belle, OF. bele:—L. bella, fem. of bellus beautiful, fair: see beau, bel.]
A. adj.
†1. Pretty, handsome. Obs. as Eng.
1668Pepys Diary 16 May, I did kiss her maid, who is so mighty belle.
2. In certain French phrases, which have been used in Eng., as belle assemblée brilliant assembly or gathering; belle dame fair lady, belle; belle laide, an attractively ugly woman; belle passion the tender passion, love; also belles-lettres, q.v.
1698Congreve Way of W. Epil. (1866) 287 Whole belles assemblées of coquettes and beaux. 1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 31 The gallant sentiments, the elegant fancys, the belle-passions. 1716Lady M. W. Montague Lett. xi. I. 40 In what a delicate manner the belles passions are managed in this country. 1767H. Brooke Fool of Q. (1859) I. 375 (D.) Should we see the value of a German prince's ransom gorgeously attiring each of our belle-dames? 1908W. S. Maugham Magician ii. 19 She was one of those plain women whose plainness does not matter. A gallant Frenchman had..called her a belle laide. 1946‘J. Tey’ Miss Pym Disposes xiv. 152 A woman with the makings of a belle laide. 1956L. E. Jones Edwardian Youth i. 6 Conscious of the physical failings of that fascinating belle-laide.
B. n. A handsome woman, esp. one who dresses so as to set off her personal charms; the reigning ‘beauty’ of a place; a fair lady, a fair one.
1622Fletcher Beggar's B. iv. iv, Vandunke's daughter, The dainty black-ey'd belle. 1712Pope Rape Lock ii. 16 Might hide her faults, if Belles had faults to hide. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 42 Fantastical old belles, that dress themselves like girls of fifteen. 1779Johnson Lett. 220 (1788) II. 79 My Master..courts the belles, and shakes Brightelmston. 1860O. Meredith Lucile 56 The belle of all Paris last winter; last spring The belle of all Baden.
▪ II. belle
obs. form of bell; also in comb. |