beautiful, bewtyful (bew as bu)

& s. [Eng. beauty; -ful.] A. As adjective: Full of beauty. [BEAUTY.] Used (1) Of the human (and specially of the female) face or figure, or of both combined. "Young and beautiful was Wabun." Long fellow: The Song of Hiawatha , il, (2) Of anything in art or in nature tastefully coloured, finely symmetrical, or both. "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; pat on thy beautiful garinenta, "-/sa. lif. L 3. Of anything which finely illustrates a principle. Thus medical men sometimes allow then is elves to speak of a " beautiful case," meaning one specially worth study. B. As subst.: One who, or that which, is beautiful. "Her beautiful, her own." Byron: Don Juan, iv. 58. The beautiful: Abstract beauty; the notion of the a emblage of qualities that constitute beauty. Crabb thus distinguishes between the words beautiful , fine , handsome , and pretty:"Of these epithets, which denote what is pleasing to the eye, beautiful conveys the strongest meaning; it marks the po e ion of that in its fullest extent, of which the other terms denote the po e ion in part only. Finene , handsomene , and prettine are to beauty as parts to a whole. When taken in relation to persons, a woman is beautiful who in feature and complexion po e es a grand a emblage of graces; a woman is fine who with a striking figure unites shape and symmetry; a woman is handsome who has good features, and pretty if with symmetry of feature be united delicacy. The beautiful comprehends regularity, proportion, and a due distribution of colour, and every particular which can engage the attention; the fine must be coupled with grandeur, majesty, and strength of figure; it is incompatible with that which is small: a little woman can never be fine. The handsome is a general a emblage of what is agreeable; it is marked by no particular characteristic but 482 the absence of all deformity. Prettine is always coupled with simplicity; it is incompatible with what is large a tall woman with masculine features cannot be pretty. Beauty is peculiarly a female perfection; in the male sex it is rather a defect; but though a male may not be beautiful or pretty , he may be fine or handsome. When relating to other objects, beautiful, fine, pretty , have a strong analogy; but handsome differs too e entially from the rest to admit of comparison. With respect to the objects of nature, the beautiful is displayed in the works of creation, and wherever it appears it is marked by elegance, variety, harmony, proportion, but above all, that softne which is peculiar to female beauty ; the fine, on the contrary, is a ociated with the grand, and the pretty with the simple. The sky presents either a beautiful aspect, or a fine aspect; but not a pretty aspect. A rural scene is beautiful when it unites richne and diversity of natural objects with superior cultivation; it is fine when it presents the bolder and more impre ive features of nature, consisting of rocks and mountains; it is pretty when, divested of all that is extraordinary, it presents a smiling view of nature in the gay attire of shrubs and many coloured flowers and verdant meadows and luxuriant fields. Beautiful sentiments have much in them to interest the affections, as well as the understanding; they make a vivid impre ion. Fine sentiments mark an elevated mind and a loftine of conception; they occupy the understanding, and afford scope for reflection; they make a strong impre ion. Pretty ideas are but pleasing a ociations or combinations that only amuse for the time being, without producing any lasting impre ion. We may speak of a beautiful poem, although not a beautiful tragedy; but a fine tragedy, and a pretty comedy. Imagery may be beautiful and fine , but seldom pretty ." (Crabb: Eng. Synonyms.)