beauty spot

English

WOTD – 26 February 2023

Etymology

The South Korean rapper and singer Chaeyoung (Son Chae-young) has a beauty spot (sense 1.1) on the left side of her chin beneath her lips in the form of a mole.

Portrait einer Dame mit Maske (Portrait of a Woman with a Mask, 19th century), an anonymous painting depicting a woman with a prominent beauty spot (sense 1.2) on the right side of her face.

From beauty (noun) +‎ spot (noun). Some uses of sense 1 (“thing which is beautiful”) are figurative uses of sense 1.2 (“patch on the face to heighten beauty”).[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbjuːtɪ ˌspɒt/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbjuti ˌspɑt/, [-ɾi-]
Hyphenation: beau‧ty spot

Noun

beauty spot (plural beauty spots)

(archaic) A thing (especially an aspect of something) which is beautiful.
- 1682, John Bunyan, “[Diabolus has No Conscience to God, nor Love to Mansoul]”, in The Holy War, Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World. […], London: […] Dorman Newman […]; and Benjamin Alsop […], OCLC 1179799106, pages 129–130:
  But if righteounſeſs be ſuch a beauty-ſpot in thine eyes novv, hovv is it that vvickedneſs vvas ſo cloſely ſtuck to by thee before.
- 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXI. Mr. Lovelace, to John Belford, Esq.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], OCLC 13631815, page 242:
  I need not deſcribe to thee her hand and arm. VVhen thou ſavveſt her, I took notice that thy eyes dvvelt upon them, vvhenever thou couldſt ſpare them from that beauty-ſpot of vvonders, her face.
1. A natural mark on a person's skin, especially a freckle or mole on a woman's face.
  Synonym: beauty mark
2. (cosmetics, historical) A patch or spot drawn or placed on the face in order to heighten beauty.
  Synonyms: beauty mark, mouche
  - 1701, Nehemiah Grew, “Of the Ends of Providence. And First, in this Life.”, in Cosmologia Sacra: Or A Discourse of the Universe as It is the Creature and Kingdom of God. […], London: […] W. Rogers, S. Smith, and B[enjamin] Walford: […], OCLC 642328229, 3rd book, paragraph 49, page 102:
    The Deformity, and Filthyneſs of Svvine, make them the Beauty-ſpot of the Animal Creation, and the Emblem of all Vice.
    Used figuratively to refer to a thing which enhances the attractiveness of something else.
3. (ornithology, archaic) Synonym of speculum (“a bright, lustrous patch of colour found on the wings of ducks and some other birds, usually situated on the distal portions of the secondary quills, and much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female”)
(chiefly Britain) A place noted for its beauty, especially its natural scenery.
- [1879], Christina G[eorgina] Rossetti, “Mountains and Hills”, in Seek and Find: A Double Series of Short Studies of the Benedicte. […], London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge […]; New York, N.Y.: Pott, Young, & Co., OCLC 1949326, 1st series (Creation), page 91:
  Moreover they [mountains] bestow necessaries not in mere naked sufficiency, but in forms which make hill-streams and waterfalls rank among the beauty-spots of this beautiful world: […]
- 1960 March, J. P. Wilson; E. N. C. Haywood, “The Route through the Peak – Derby to Manchester: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, ISSN 0141-9935, OCLC 35845948, page 155:
  The building of the railway in this notable beauty spot roused the great Victorian writer John Ruskin to fury.

Translations

thing (especially an aspect of something) which is beautiful

Finnish: kauneuspilkku (figuratively)
Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

natural mark on a person’s skin, especially a freckle or mole on a woman’s face

Finnish: kauneuspilkku
French: grain de beauté (fr) m
Hungarian: szépségpötty
Khmer: ប្រជ្រុយ (km) (prɑcruy)
Latvian: dzimumzīme f
Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: ben (tr)

patch or spot drawn or placed on the face in order to heighten beauty

Finnish: kauneuspilkku
Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

synonym of speculum — see speculum

place noted for its beauty, especially its natural scenery

Finnish: luonnonnähtävyys
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: سەیرانگا‎ (seyranga)
Northern Kurdish: seyrangeh (ku)
Southern Kurdish: سەێرانگا‎ (seÿranga)
Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
Manx: ard aalin m, boayl aalin m
Vietnamese: thắng cảnh (vi)

References

“beauty spot, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “beauty spot, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.