beldame

beldame

English

Etymology

From late (1400–1450) Middle English bel (“fine”) + dam (“mother”), from Old French bele (“beautiful”) + dame (“woman”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛldəm/[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛldəm

Noun

beldame (plural beldames)

1. (obsolete) A grandmother.
   • c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, OCLC 932916628, [Act III, scene i]:

     Diſeaſed nature oftentimes breakes forth, / In ſtrange eruptions, oft the teeming earth / Is with a kind of collicke pincht and vext, / By the impriſoning of vnruly wind / Within her vvombe, vvhich for enlargement ſtriuing / Shakes the old Beldame earth, and topples down / Steeples and moſſegrovvn towers.

2. (now archaic) An old woman, particularly an ugly one.
   • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.i:

     Justice is an old hobbling beldame, and I can't get her to keep pace with Generosity, for the soul of me.

   • 1847, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre:

     ... have a curiosity to hear my fortune told: therefore, Sam, order the beldame forward.

   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 25:

     The tablets upon which the events of the day were recorded refer to enchantresses, and we can conclude that they were by no means restricted to ancient beldames.

   • 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin 2006, p. 6:

     Suddenly the beldam shrieks as if she's been stuck with a dagger, long rasping insuck of breath: ‘Eeeeeeeee!’

Synonyms

• (ugly woman): crone, hag, harridan
• See also Thesaurus:ugly person

References

1. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/beldam

• “beldame”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “beldame”, in Collins English Dictionary.

Anagrams

• embaled