bello

See also: béllo, Bello, and Bellò

English

Etymology

From Italian bello (“man; fella”). Doublet of beau.

Noun

bello (plural bellos)

1. A young man; sweetheart.

Anagrams

• Bollé, Lobel

Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin bellum.

Noun

bello

1. war

Synonyms

• guerra

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin bellus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛl.lo/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛllo
• Hyphenation: bèl‧lo

Adjective

bello (see below for inflection, superlative bellissimo, augmentative bellòccio or bellóne (noun) or bellóna f (“beautiful but common woman”, noun), endearing bellùccio, diminutive-endearing bellìno)

1. nice, fair, fine, pleasant; beautiful (of the weather, etc.)

   Che bello! ― How nice!

   una bella giornata ― a beautiful day

2. good-looking, handsome; beautiful (of a person)
3. considerable (quantity)

   Synonyms: grande, grosso, forte

   una bella somma ― a considerable amount

4. used to emphasize the size, quantity, degree, or extent

   Dammi una fetta bella spessa! ― Give me a nice thick slice!

5. good

   Synonym: buono

   un bel lavoro ― a good job

Inflection

	Not before the noun	Before the noun
		Before most consonants	Before impure s, gli, gn, pn, ps, x, z	Before vowels and h
Masculine singular	bello	bel	bello	bell’
Feminine singular	bella
Masculine plural	belli	bei	begli
Feminine plural	belle

Derived terms

• abbellire

Related terms

• a bella posta
• bellamente
• bellezza
• bellimbusto
• bellino
• belloccio
• belluria
• beltà

 

Noun

bello m (invariable)

1. beauty

   il bello nell’arte ― beauty in art

2. (weather) fair-weather

   Synonym: sereno

   Domani riprenderà il bello (i.e. bel tempo)? ― Will tomorrow be back the good weather?

3. (informal) man, fella

   Dai, andiamo, bello! ― C'mon, let's go, fella!

   Allora, bello, da dove è che vieni? ― So, man, where do you come from?

Anagrams

• bolle

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈbel.loː/, [ˈbɛlːʲoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbel.lo/, [ˈbɛlːo]

Etymology 1

From bellum (“war”) +‎ -ō.

Verb

bellō (present infinitive bellāre, perfect active bellāvī, supine bellātum); first conjugation, no passive

1. to wage or carry out war, fight in war, war
2. (by extension) to fight, contend

   Synonyms: lūctor, repugnō, pugnō, contendō, dēcernō, concurrō, certō, dīmicō, cōnflīgō, committō, serō, dēcertō

Conjugation

Conjugation of bellō (first conjugation, active only)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	bellō	bellās	bellat	bellāmus	bellātis	bellant
	imperfect	bellābam	bellābās	bellābat	bellābāmus	bellābātis	bellābant
	future	bellābō	bellābis	bellābit	bellābimus	bellābitis	bellābunt
	perfect	bellāvī	bellāvistī	bellāvit	bellāvimus	bellāvistis	bellāvērunt, bellāvēre
	pluperfect	bellāveram	bellāverās	bellāverat	bellāverāmus	bellāverātis	bellāverant
	future perfect	bellāverō	bellāveris	bellāverit	bellāverimus	bellāveritis	bellāverint
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	bellem	bellēs	bellet	bellēmus	bellētis	bellent
	imperfect	bellārem	bellārēs	bellāret	bellārēmus	bellārētis	bellārent
	perfect	bellāverim	bellāverīs	bellāverit	bellāverīmus	bellāverītis	bellāverint
	pluperfect	bellāvissem	bellāvissēs	bellāvisset	bellāvissēmus	bellāvissētis	bellāvissent
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	bellā	—	—	bellāte	—
	future	—	bellātō	bellātō	—	bellātōte	bellantō
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		bellāre	bellāvisse	bellātūrum esse	—	—	—
participles		bellāns	—	bellātūrus	—	—	—
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		bellandī	bellandō	bellandum	bellandō	bellātum	bellātū

Derived terms

• bellor
• dēbellō
• rebellō

Descendants

• Asturian: embellar

Etymology 2

Noun

bellō n

1. dative/ablative singular of bellum (“war”)

Etymology 3

Adjective

bellō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of bellus

References

• “bello”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “bello”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• bello in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to charge some one with the conduct of a war: praeficere aliquem bello gerendo
    
  • (ambiguous) to interfere in a war: bello se interponere (Liv. 35. 48)
    
  • (ambiguous) to be involved in a war: bello implicari
    
  • (ambiguous) everywhere the torch of war is flaming: omnia bello flagrant or ardent (Fam. 4. 1. 2)
    
  • (ambiguous) to harass with war: bello persequi aliquem, lacessere
    

Portuguese

Adjective

bello (feminine bella, masculine plural bellos, feminine plural bellas)

1. Obsolete spelling of belo.

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish bello, in turn a borrowing from Old Occitan bel, bell, from Latin bellus. According to Coromines and Pascual, first attested in the early 13th century, but not in the Poem of the Cid nor pre-literary Castilian. Part of the evidence for it being a borrowing is the lack of diphthongization, cf. Old Spanish castiello, amariello. The native Old Spanish terms were bellido and fermoso.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeʝo/ [ˈbe.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): (most of Spain and Latin America) /ˈbeʝo/ [ˈbe.ʝo]
• IPA^(key): (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines) /ˈbeʎo/ [ˈbe.ʎo]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈbeʃo/ [ˈbe.ʃo]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈbeʒo/ [ˈbe.ʒo]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -eʝo

• Rhymes: -eʝo
• Rhymes: -eʎo
• Rhymes: -eʃo
• Rhymes: -eʒo

• Syllabification: be‧llo
• Homophone: vello

Adjective

bello (feminine bella, masculine plural bellos, feminine plural bellas, superlative bellísimo)

1. beautiful, fair
2. lovely (wonderful)

Derived terms

• bella de noche
• bellamente
• bellas artes
• bellas letras
• bello sexo
• embellecer

 

Related terms

• beldad
• belleza

 

See also

• bonito
• guapo
• lindo
• precioso

 

Further reading

• “bello”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “bello”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume I (A–Ca), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, pages 562-3