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beldam

 - 3 dictionary results

bel⋅dam

  [bel-duhm, -dam]
Use beldam in a Sentence
–noun
1. an old woman, esp. an ugly one; hag.
2. Obsolete. grandmother.
Also, bel⋅dame  [bel-duhm, -deym] .

Origin:
1400–50; late ME, equiv. to bel- grand- (< MF bel, belle fine; see beau, belle ) + dam mother (see dam 2 )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bel·dam or bel·dame   (běl'dəm, -dām)   
n.  An old woman, especially one who is considered ugly.

[Middle English, grandmother : bel, indicating respect (from Old French bel, fine, from Latin bellus; see deu-2 in Indo-European roots) + dame, lady; see dame.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

beldam 
"aged woman," 1580; earlier "grandmother" (c.1440), from dame (q.v.) in the sense of "mother" + bel-, M.E. prefix expressing relationship (cf. belfader, belsire "grandfather"), from O.Fr. bel, belle "beautiful, fair, fine." This "direct relationship" sense of bel is not found in Fr., where the prefix is used to form words for in-laws.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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