beau monde

B

beau monde

Meaning

• a fashionable society.
• a rich society.
• a class of people who are particularly wealthy and glamorous. 

Example Sentences

1. He had no interest in the glittering beau monde that he belonged to before his marriage.
2. The beau monde has always been admired by the general public.
3. A little beau monde seems to have rapidly developed over the course of the year right here in this city.
4. Did you see that there was a seasoning named after Beau Monde? I’ve got to get my hands on it.
5. When she grows up, she’s going to be an icon in the beau monde.

Origin

Though there is no official record of who first used the word or how it became popular, there is still an etymology for the term. Beau monde was first recorded as a term in the early 1700s (possibly between 1705 and 1710) in France. When translated into English, the term literally means “fine world”. Beau is an original French term meaning “beautiful”, which is derived from the Old French term, bel (meaning “beautiful” or “handsome”). The word “bel” is derived from the Latin term “bellus,” which means “fine” or “handsome.” Monde is also a French word that simply means “world”, and it originally derives from the Latin term mundus, which means “world” or “universe”. 

Fashion, Rich