Finnish

Alternative forms

• bebee, bebe

Noun

bébé

1. A type of cake; a pastry cup with a creamy filling and topped with sugar icing.

Declension

French

Etymology

Nickname given to Nicolas Ferry, renowned throughout Europe as the court dwarf of the Polish King Stanisław Leszczyński. Possibly derived from bab- (babiller, babine) rather than adapted from English baby, although this may have contributed to the diffusion of the word.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /be.be/

Noun

bébé m ‎(plural bébés)

1. baby
   • 1919, Marcel Proust, À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleur

     Cependant la princesse de Luxembourg nous avait tendu la main et, de temps en temps, tout en causant avec la marquise, elle se détournait pour poser de doux regards sur ma grand’mère et sur moi, avec cet embryon de baiser qu’on ajoute au sourire quand celui-ci s’adresse à un bébé avec sa nounou.

     Meanwhile the Princesse de Luxembourg had offered us her hand and from time to time, while she chatted to the Marquise, turned to bestow a kindly glance on my grandmother and myself, with that embryonic kiss which we put into our smiles when they are addressed to a baby out with its “Nana.”.

References

1. ↑ “bébé” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).