Belle Époque

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French Belle Époque (good epoch).

Proper noun

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Belle Époque (uncountable)

  1. (history) A period of European history, extending over several decades until the start of the First World War, characterized by artistic and cultural refinement.
    • 1973, Raymond Rudorff, The Belle Époque: Paris in the Nineties, Saturday Review Press, page 240:
      Among these cultured hostesses, a leading figure in the belle époque was the Comtesse de Greffulhe.
    • 1994, Jennifer R. Waelti-Walters, Steven C. Hause, editors, Feminisms of the Belle Epoque: A Historical and Literary Anthology, University of Nebraska Press:
    • 2008, Ellen Hymowitz, “1900-1918”, in Jill Condra, editor, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History, Volume 3: 1801 to the Present, Greenwood Press, page 89:
      Spanning the turn of the century and capitalizing on fortunes accumulated before the democratizing notion of income tax existed, the Belle Époque held out a lavish style of life to the relative few who could afford it.

Usage notes

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See also

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