bellus

== Latin == === Etymology === From Old Latin *duenelos, diminutive of duonus (“good”) (whence bonus (“idem”)). Compare typologically Russian хоро́шенький (xoróšenʹkij) (diminutive of хоро́ший (xoróšij)). Also compare приго́жий (prigóžij) (< *goditi, akin to го́дный (gódnyj), cognate with English good). See also Ancient Greek καλός (kalós) (means both beautiful and good), and Mongolian сайхан (sajxan) (akin to сайн (sajn)). Also note the first element of Greek όμορφος (ómorfos) (<< Ancient Greek εὖ (eû) + μορφή (morphḗ)) (for the second see fōrmōsus). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈbɛl.lʊs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈbɛl.lus] === Adjective === bellus (feminine bella, neuter bellum, adverb bellē); first/second-declension adjective beautiful, pretty, handsome pleasant, agreeable, charming ==== Usage notes ==== The most common Classical terms for "beautiful" are pulcher and fōrmōsus. ==== Declension ==== First/second-declension adjective. ==== Synonyms ==== (beautiful, pretty): pulcher, fōrmōsus, speciōsus (pleasant, agreeable): iūcundus ==== Derived terms ==== *bellitātem *bellitia ==== Descendants ==== === See also === bellum === References === === Further reading === “bellus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “bellus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers “bellus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co. == Maltese == === Etymology === Eventually from Latin villus, vellus (“hair, fleece”). Aquilina apparently seeks to derive it directly from this noun, comparing fellus (“chick”), from Latin pullus. However, the word must then have passed from Latin through Berber into Arabic, which seems unlikely. Much more probably it is from the adjective villosus, whence French velours (“velvet”). Compare also Italian velluto. The Maltese b- is probably due to adaptation of the un-Arabic v-, though there is an (unrelated?) Arabic بَلاس (balās), بُلُس (bulus, “hair-cloth”), which might have influenced the form. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bɛlˈluːs/ Rhymes: -uːs === Noun === bellus m velvet ==== Derived terms ====