What would be the female term for ‘beau?’

The young lady that brought this up mentioned that girlfriend was "high school." She did use "significant other" in reference to her "beau" and I said that it sounded mechanistic and lacked romance. Her grandmother uses beau as well.  

Belle.

[quote author=KatyBr link=board=omni;num=1055009900;start=0#3 date=06/08/03 at 12:51:09]is that actually used as a counterpart of beau?

The direct French translation of the adjective ‘beautiful’ is beau in the masculine singular and belle in the feminine singular. The plural equivalents are beaux and belles. When followed by a word beginning with a vowel (and some words beginning with ‘h’) the masculine singular form is bel and the masculine plural form is bels.  

At least until Stargzer registers a correction.  

Both beau and belle are used as nouns in English:

"He is my beau."
"She’s the belle of the ball."

does Belle have that same usage?

Michelle, ma belle.
These are words that go together well,
         -Paul McCartney

DJ

I don’t know. I’ve heard those lines hundreds of times.

DJ

Is "beau" actually in current usage in the US? As far as I know, it is pretty much defunct in Brit. usage.

When McCartney first sang those words I think everyone in the US knew instantly he wasn’t referring to the phone company.

Seriously, I believe that belle was used in the South as a term for sweetheart, and may still be used so occasionally by the genteel.

I admit it does not appear to have been adopted by the masses. It certainly seems preferable to my old lady.

DJ

Hmmm… I’ve never heard belle used as a descriptive counterpart to beau.  And I’m from the South, as it were (northern modifiers notwithstanding).  I really can’t imagine, even in my mind’s eye, the expression being applied to a steady (which is, itself, an expression that I am too young to have used in terms of relationships).  If it were used anywhere in the South, it would have been used in Alabama, Mississippi, and maybe Louisiana.

In the strictest sense, I don’t think Paul McCartney was saying "my girlfriend", either.  He may have been saying "my sweet" or "my pretty".

-Tim

P.S.  But more than likely, he just liked the sound of it…

Belle doesn’t seem to be used as girlfriend.

From the AHD:

belle
n.
A popular, attractive girl or woman, especially the most attractive one of a group: the belle of the ball.

[French, beautiful, belle, from Latin bella, feminine of bellus; see deu-[sup]2[/sup] in Indo-European roots.]

beau
n. pl. beaus or beaux

1. The boyfriend of a woman or girl.
2. A dandy; a fop.

[French, from beau, bel, handsome, from Latin bellus; see deu-[sup]2[/sup] in Indo-European roots.]

And speaking of belles, here’s one from Italian:

bel·la·don·na
n.
1. A poisonous Eurasian perennial herb (Atropa belladonna) having usually solitary, nodding, purplish-brown, bell-shaped flowers and glossy black berries. Also called deadly nightshade.

2. An alkaloidal extract or tincture derived from this plant and used in medicine.

[Italian : bella, feminine of bello, beautiful (from Latin bellus; see deu-[sup]2[/sup] in Indo-European roots) + donna, lady ; see Donna.]

Don·na
n.
Used as a courtesy title before the name of a woman in an Italian-speaking area.

[Italian, from Latin domina ; see Doña.]

And we can’t forget the Spanish:

Do·ña
n.
Used as a courtesy title before the name of a woman in a Spanish-speaking area.

[Spanish, from Latin domina, feminine of dominus, lord ; see don[sup]1[/sup].]

You’ll have to look up Don yourself . . .

A poisonous Eurasian perennial herb (Atropa belladonna) having usually solitary, nodding, purplish-brown, bell-shaped flowers and glossy black berries. Also called deadly nightshade.

The deadly nightshade plant is well known in the UK. My mother told me that, in her youth, young ladies used to take small quantities because it would cause their pupils to dilate and thus make them more attractive to men. Hence the nick-name of bella donna. ::)

John

[quote author=John Rastall link=board=omni;num=1055009900;start=15#15 date=06/10/03 at 17:05:41]
The deadly nightshade plant is well known in the UK. My mother told me that, in her youth, young ladies used to take small quantities because it would cause their pupils to dilate and thus make them more attractive to men. Hence the nick-name of bella donna. ::)

John

Funny you should mention that:  

at·ro·pine
n.
A poisonous, bitter, crystalline alkaloid, C[sub]17[/sub]H[sub]23[/sub]NO[sub]3[/sub], obtained from belladonna and other related plants. It is used to dilate the pupils of the eyes and as an antispasmodic.

[From New Latin Atropa, genus name of belladonna, from Greek Atropos, Atropos; see Atropos.]

At·ro·pos
n. Greek Mythology

One of the three Fates, the cutter of the thread of destiny.

[Greek, from atropos, inexorable : a-, not ; see a-[sup]1[/sup] + tropos, changeable ; see -tropous.]