bel-espritn.
/bɛlɛspri/ 1. A clever genius, a brilliant wit.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > [noun] > witty person
whinyard1611
truewit1616
wit-monger1620
witship1636
bel-esprit1638
wit-wright1655
wit1692
1638 W. Chillingworth Relig. Protestants i. Pref. §8 Which I feare is a great scandall to many Beaux Esprits among you.
1721 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius xxv. 129 The finest geniuses and beaux esprits of the university.
1801 M. Edgeworth Belinda I. iii. 70 The world..thought me a beauty, and a bel-esprit.
1814 M. Edgeworth Patronage I. xiv. 402 One could hand her verses about, and get her forward in the bel-esprit line.
2. Wit, wittiness. (Hardly in English use.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > [noun]
wittiness1543
conceitedness1576
wit1578
conceit1593
mercury1653
saltiness1670
bel-esprit1806
1806 M. Edgeworth Leonora II. lxv. 107 In these times a woman has no choice at a certain period but politics, or bel esprit.
1860 G. J. Adler tr. C. C. Fauriel Hist. Provençal Poetry xviii. 401 The mannered subtilties of a vitiated taste and of bel-esprit.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1638