English word origin

Etymology of beaut

Either a back-formation from beauty or a clipping of thereof.

1 source sectionBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

adj

Beautiful, splendid.

noun

Something or someone that is physically attractive. · Something that is a remarkable example of its type.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Either a back-formation from beauty or a clipping of thereof.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "backformation",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "beauty",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "back-formation from beauty"
    },
    {
      "name": "clipping",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "-",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "clipping of"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "beauty",
      "beauty#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Beautiful, splendid."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "especially",
        "informal"
      ],
      "recordId": "821dde77bcadeb375760ad599b736d229f7ce4bbd9698cd18136e28f086c93e4",
      "rawRecordSha256": "33f3e1138a20dd1ab255778a381cafe906e118fda344f81a609a533e1dc8fd8e",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 262693
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Something or someone that is physically attractive.",
        "Something that is a remarkable example of its type."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "recordId": "8cb799663a7284ab19ae8dc8fe92bfb3e2c59bf193d4edc831310013ef8fef3c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "26e61d47a12f0ff6fc716eb54ceb8f41941c39367b3d45a2b187c19e71c621a3",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 262692
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for beaut →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-YmVhdXQ