beldame

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beldame

/ˈbɛldəm/

Rhymes with -ɛldəm

Where it comes from

Inherited from late (1400–1450) Middle English beldame, beldam, from Middle English bel (“attractive, fine, good”) (from Old French bel (“beautiful”), from Latin bellus) + dame, dam (“a mother, lady”), itself ultimately from Latin domina (“a mistress, lady”).

noun beldames · beldam

obsolete A grandmother. There he was welcom'd of that honeſt ſyre, / And of his aged Beldame homely well; / Who him beſought himſelfe to diſattyre, / And reſt himſelfe, till ſupper time befell.
archaic An old woman, particularly an ugly one. Justice is an old hobbling beldame, and I can't get her to keep pace with Generosity, for the soul of me.
Similar: crone, hag, harridan

Opposite: belsire, belchild

Thesaurus

noun

Opposite: belsire, belchild

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MLA

"beldame." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/beldame. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

beldame. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/beldame

Chicago

"beldame." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/beldame.

BibTeX

@misc{beldame_2026,
  title = {beldame},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/beldame},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}