merveilleux
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Marie-Guillemine Benoist, Portrait of a Lady (c. 1799)
See also: Merveilleux
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From the French merveilleux. Doublet of marvellous.
Pronunciation
Noun
merveilleux (plural merveilleux)
- (historical) Contemporary names for an extravagantly dressed French fop or ‘fine lady’ of the period of the Directory (1795–1799), who affected a revival of the classical costume of Ancient Greece.
- Coordinate term: merveilleuse
- 1898, Octave Uzanne, chapter I, in Mary Loyd, transl., Fashion in Paris: The Various Phases of Feminine Taste and Æsthetics from 1797 to 1897, page 8:
- The Ecrouelleux, the Inconcevables, the Merveilleux, with their chins sunk in their huge cravats.
Translations
French fop during the Directory who affected ancient Greek classical costume
References
- “‖Merveilleux, -euse” on page 365/1 of § 1 (M; edited by Henry Bradley) of part ii (M–N) of volume VI (L–N; 1st ed., 1908) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles
- “‖merveilleux, -euse” in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989)
Further reading
Incroyables and Merveilleuses on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
French
Etymology
From Middle French merveilleux, from Old French merveillos, merveillus, equivalent to merveille + -eux.
Pronunciation
Adjective
merveilleux (feminine merveilleuse, masculine plural merveilleux, feminine plural merveilleuses)
Derived terms
Descendants
- → English: merveilleux
Further reading
- “merveilleux”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French merveillos, merveillus.
Noun
merveilleux m (feminine singular merveilleuse, masculine plural merveilleux, feminine plural merveilleuses)
Descendants
- French: merveilleux
- → English: merveilleux
References
- merveilleux on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)