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beldam

[bel-duh m, -dam]
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noun

an old woman, especially an ugly one; hag.
Obsolete. grandmother.

RELATED WORDS

shrew, vixen, scold, harpy, termagant, amazon, fishwife

Nearby words

  1. belaying pin,
  2. belaúnde,
  3. belaúnde terry, fernando,
  4. belch,
  5. beld,
  6. beldame,
  7. beleaguer,
  8. beleaguered,
  9. beleave,
  10. belection
Also bel·dame [bel-duh m, -deym] /ˈbɛl dəm, -ˌdeɪm/.

Origin of beldam

1400–50; late Middle English, equivalent to bel- grand- (< Middle French bel, belle fine; see beau, belle) + dam mother (see dam2)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for beldame

British Dictionary definitions for beldame

beldam

beldame

noun

archaic an old woman, esp an ugly or malicious one; hag
an obsolete word for grandmother

Word Origin for beldam

C15: from bel- grand (as in grandmother), from Old French bel beautiful, from Latin bellus + dam mother, variant of dame
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for beldame

beldam

n.

"aged woman," 1570s; earlier "grandmother" (mid-15c.), from dame (q.v.) in the sense of "mother" + bel-, Middle English prefix expressing relationship (cf. belfader, belsire "grandfather"), from Old French bel, belle "beautiful, fair, fine" (see belle). This "direct relationship" sense of bel is not found in French, where the prefix is used to form words for in-laws.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper