Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BE-AT'I-FY, v.t. [L. beatus, happy, from beo, to bless, and facio, to make.]

1. To make happy; to bless with the completion of celestial enjoyment.
2. In the Romish church, to declare by a decree or public act, that a person is received into heaven, and is to be reverenced as blessed, though not canonized.

BEAT'ING, n.

The act of striking or giving blows; punishment or chastisement by blows. The beating of flax and hemp is an operation which renders them more soft and pliable. For this purpose, they are made into rolls and laid in a trough, where they are beat till no roughness or hardness can be felt. Encyc. In book-binding, beating is performed by laying the book in quires or sheets folded, on a block, and beating it with a heavy broad-faced hammer. On this operation the elegance of the binding and the easy opening of the book chiefly depend. Encyc. Beating the wind, was a practice in the ancient trial by combat. If one of the combatants did not appear on the field, the other was to beat the wind, by making flourishes with his weapons; by which he was entitled to the advantages of a conqueror. Beatings, in music, the regular pulsative swellings of sound produced in an organ by pipes of the same key, when not in unison, and their vibrations not simultaneous or coincident. Busby.

BEAT'ING, ppr.

Laying on blows; striking; dashing against; conquering; pounding; sailing against the direction of the wind, &c.

BE-AT'I-TUDE, n. [L. beatitudo, from beatus, beo. See Beatify.]

1. Blessedness; felicity of the highest kind; consummate bliss; used of the joys of heaven.
2. The declaration of blessedness made by our Savior to particular virtues.

BEAU, n. [bo; plur. Beaux, boze; Fr. beau, contracted from bel; L. bellus; Sp. and It. bello, fine, gay, handsome.]

A man of dress; a fine, gay man; one whose great care is to deck his person. In familiar language, a man who attends a lady.

BEAU-ES-PRIT, a. [bo-espree; Fr.]

A wit.

BEAU-I-DE'AL, n. [bo-ide'al; Fr.]

A model of excellence in the mind or fancy.

BEAU'ISH, a. [bo'ish.]

Like a beau; foppish; fine.

BEAU-MONDE', n. [bo-mond; Fr. beau, fine, and monde, world.]

The fashionable world; people of fashion and gaiety. Prior.

BEAU'TE-OUS, a. [bu'teos; See Beauty.]

Very fair; elegant in form; pleasing to the sight; beautiful; very handsome. It expresses a greater degree of beauty than handsome, and is chiefly used in poetry.

BEAU'TE-OUS-LY, adv. [bu'teously.]

In a beauteous manner; in a manner pleasing to the sight; beautifully.

BEAU'TE-OUS-NESS, n. [bu'teousness.]

The state or quality of being beauteous; beauty.

BEAU'TI-FI-ED, pp. [bu'tified.]

Adorned, made beautiful.

BEAU'TI-FI-ER, n. [bu'tifier.]

He or that which makes beautiful.

BEAU'TI-FUL, a. [bu'tiful. beauty and full.]

1. Elegant in form; fair; having the form that pleases the eye. It expresses more than handsome. A beautiful woman is one of the most attractive objects in all nature's works. Anon. A circle is more beautiful than a square; a square is more beautiful than a parallelogram. Lord Kames.
2. Having the qualities which constitute beauty, or that which pleases the senses other than the sight; as, a beautiful sound. Encyc.

BEAU'TI-FUL-LY, adv. [bu'tifully.]

In a beautiful manner.

BEAU'TI-FUL-NESS, n. [bu'tifulness.]

Elegance of form; beauty; the quality of being beautiful.

BEAU'TI-FY, v.i. [bu'tify.]

To become beautiful; to advance in beauty. Addison.

BEAU'TI-FY, v.t. [bu'tify. beauty and L. facio.]

To make or render beautiful; to adorn; to deck; to grace; to add beauty to; to embellish. Hayward.

BEAU'TI-FY-ING, ppr. [bu'tifying.]

Adorning, embellishing.

BEAU'TY, n. [bu'ty; Fr. beauté, from beau. See Beau.]

1. An assemblage of graces, or an assemblage of properties in the form of the person or any other object, which pleases the eye. In the person, due proportion or symmetry of parts constitutes the most essential property to which we annex the term beauty. In the face, the regularity and symmetry of the features, the color of the skin, the expression of the eye, are among the principal properties which constitute beauty. But as it is hardly possible to define all the properties which constitute beauty, we may observe in general, that beauty consists in whatever pleases the eye of the beholder, whether in the human body, in a tree, in a landscape, or in any other object. Beauty is intrinsic, and perceived by the eye at first view, or relative, to perceive which, the aid of the understanding and reflection is requisite. Thus, the beauty of a machine is not perceived, till we understand its uses, and adaptation to its purpose. This is called the beauty of utility. By an easy transition, the word beauty is used to express what is pleasing to the other senses, or to the understanding. Thus we say, the beauty of a thought, of a remark, of sound, &c. So beauty, armed with virtue, bows the soul / With a commanding, but sweet control. Percival.
2. A particular grace, feature or ornament; any particular thing which is beautiful and pleasing; as, the beauties of nature.
3. A particular excellence, or a part which surpasses in excellence that with which it is united; as, the beauties of an author.
4. A beautiful person. In Scripture, the chief dignity or ornament. 2 Sam. i.
5. In the arts, symmetry of parts; harmony; justness of composition. Encyc.
6. Joy and gladness. Is. lxi. Order, prosperity, peace, holiness. Ezek. xvi.

BEAU'TY, v.t. [bu'ty.]

To adorn; to beautify or embellish. [Obs.] Shak.

BEAU'TY-LESS, a. [bu'tyless.]

Destitute of beauty. Hammond.

BEAU'TY-SPOT, n. [bu'ty-spot.]

A patch; a foil; a spot placed on the face to heighten beauty.

BEAU'TY-WAN-ING, a.

Declining in beauty. Shak.