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beldam - 4 dictionary results

bel⋅dam

[bel-duhm, -dam]
–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 )
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.]

Beldam

Bel"dam\ Beldame \Bel"dame\, n. [Pref. bel-, denoting relationship + dame mother: cf. F. belledame fair lady, It. belladonna. See Belle, and Dame.]

1. Grandmother; -- corresponding to belsire.

To show the beldam daughters of her daughter. --Shak.

2. An old woman in general; especially, an ugly old woman; a hag.

Around the beldam all erect they hang. --Akenside.

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.
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