It’s fewer than 24 hours until Valentine’s Day. If you’re in a happy relationship with a significant other, good for you. But if you’re a sad, lonely, pathetic single person like me — yes, yours truly — than tomorrow is Singles Awareness Day, or SAD. Someday, I hope to escape my pitiful condition, and it is in this faint hope that I humbly submit this week’s word: beau. Thanks are due to my good friend Sarah Greenleaf for suggesting it.

And I should also thank the French. Yes, the French, for this word is French, and comes from the earlier Old French word biau (also spelled bel or beal in earlier forms). It comes from the Latin word bellus, meaning “fine, pretty or handsome.” According to the Oxford English Dictionary, as an adjective in Middle English, it meant “beauty” and was sometimes spelled beaulieu. That form has been obsolete for quite some time, but it was reintroduced from the modern French, where it meant something else for a while. But I’ll get to that shortly.

Men (and women), listen up. You want to be a beau (or want to have one). A beau is “the attendant or suitor of a lady; a lover, sweetheart,” as defined by the OED. That’s a good thing. I’m a pre-beau, which is not as good, but I suppose there’s always hope.

But enough about me. The first written, recorded appearance of beau in its original meaning was in about 1325. A good example (actually, one of only two in the OED) is seen in William Langland’s Richard the Redeles in 1399, the line in question being, “Now leue we is beu brid” (sic., you must forgive the Middle English). Langland (c. 1330-1400) is, in many ways, a literary enigma, but he may have been educated as a member of the clergy. His most famous work, in case you’re interested, is The Vision of William Concerning Piers Plowman, famous for how it translated complex Christian doctrine into layman’s terms.

Another early use of beau was as a title of affection, friendship or just plain politeness, typically with French titles, and equivalent to the English expressions “fair sir,” “good people,” or “dear sir.” While the first examples of this meaning can be found around 1300, a good later instance can be seen in Gavin Douglas’ The XIII Bukes of Eneados of the Famose Poete Virgill, with the line, “Lo, this is all, bew schirris haue gude day!” (sic.). The politically connected Gavin (c. 1475-1522) was the bishop of Dunkeld and the first translator into English of the Aeneid.

As for the more modern meaning of beau, as a suitor, the first meaning showed up in English in about 1720, but a nice example can be found in about 1765, in Oliver Goldsmith’s The Double Transformation, a Tale. Our word can be found in this line: “Her country beaux and city cousins, lovers no more, flew off by dozens,” (sic.). Goldsmith (1730-1774) was an Anglo-Irish essayist, poet, novelist, playwright and all-around eccentric.

Finally, a beau can be a fop or a dandy (rather like a dude from a few weeks ago), giving new meaning to the expression “pretty boy.” A fine example can be found in American short story writer Washington Irving’s 1824 Tales of a Traveler, with this line, “The painted beau with …[a] long, flimsy, sky-blue coat.”

Note — don’t be a foppish beau; be a manly romantic beau. Tomorrow, when the insidious vapors of love fill the air, aspire to be this type of beau. And if you’re free from the bonds of romance (like me), cherish your beau potential.

Please feel free to also submit your word suggestions, and until next time, cheerio.

[Reach columnist Will Mari at features@thedaily.washington.edu.]