English

Noun

Merveilleux ‎(plural Merveilleux)

1. Alternative letter-case form of merveilleux

English

Thérésa Tallien, a renowned merveilleuse

Alternative forms

• Merveilleux

Noun

merveilleux ‎(plural merveilleux, feminine merveilleuse)

1. (historical) Contemporary names for the extravagantly dressed French fops and ‘fine ladies’ of the period of the Directory, who affected a revival of the classical costume of ancient Greece.
   • 1819, The Metropolis: A Novel (second edition), volume II, page 57:

     I did not stay very late at the party; and our marvellous promised to give us a list of the company..the ensuing day. [Cf. p. 59 Our military Exquisite.]

   • 1892 October 19th, The Daily News, page 5/1:

     The ‘merveilleuse’ of the Directory in France. The ‘merveilleuse’, or ‘ultra-fashionable’, as the writer..rather inadequately translates her title, ‘walked..half naked in the Champs Elysees’.

   • 1898, Mary Loyd (translator), Octave Uzanne (author), Fashion in Paris: The Various Phases of Feminine Taste and Æsthetics from 1797 to 1897, chapter i, page 8:

     The Ecrouelleux, the Inconcevables, the Merveilleux, with their chins sunk in their huge cravats.

   • ibidem, page 19:

     The Merveilleuses survived the Incroyables by a couple of years.

Translations

References

• “‖Merveilleux, -euse” on page 365/1 of § 1 (M; edited by Henry Bradley) of part ii (M–N) of volume VI (L–N; 1st ed., 1908) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles
• “‖merveilleux, -euse” in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989)

French

Etymology

merveille +‎ -eux

Pronunciation

Adjective

merveilleux m ‎(feminine singular merveilleuse, masculine plural merveilleux, feminine plural merveilleuses)

1. marvelous, brilliant

Descendants

• English: merveilleux

Middle French

Etymology

Old French merveillos, etc.

Noun

merveilleux m ‎(feminine singular merveilleuse, masculine plural merveilleux, feminine plural merveilleuses)

1. marvelous; brilliant, etc.

Descendants

• French: merveilleux

References

• merveilleux on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500) (in French)