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!

   Quest'albero ha le foglie belle verdi. ― This tree's got its leaves nice and green.

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
• trabello

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): [ˈbɛl.loː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈbɛl.lo]

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Old Latin duellum

Latin bellum

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin bellō

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, no passive)

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		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		bellāre			—			bellāns			—
future		bellātūrum esse			—			bellātūrus			—
perfect		bellāvisse			—			—			—
perfect potential		bellātūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		bellandī		bellandō		bellandum		bellandō		bellātum		bellātū

Derived terms

• bellor
• dēbellō
• rebellō

Descendants

• → Italian: bellare

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. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of belo
   • 1880, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, “O romance de Adelina [Adelina’s romance]”, in Contos e phantasias [Short stories and fantasies]‎^[2], 2nd edition, Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, published 1905, page 131:

     Sabes quem são os meus mestres do bom e do bello?

     Do you know who are my teachers of the good and the beautiful?

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

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -eʝo

• Rhymes: -eʝo (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -eʎo (Andes Mountains, rustic northern Spain, Paraguay, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -eʃo (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -eʒo (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

• Syllabification: be‧llo
• Homophone: vello

Adjective

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

1. beautiful, fair

   Synonyms: (archaic) bel, bellido

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 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “bello”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[3] (in Spanish), volume I (A–Ca), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, pages 562-3