Beauty and the Beast
Preserved but no longer current.
The hero and heroine of the well-known fairy tale in which Beauty saved the life of her father by consent- ing to live with the Beast; and the Beast, being disenchanted by Beauty's love, became a handsome prince, and married her.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Beauty and the Beast” mean?
The hero and heroine of the well-known fairy tale in which Beauty saved the life of her father by consent- ing to live with the Beast; and the Beast, being disenchanted by Beauty's love, became a handsome prince, and married her.
Is “Beauty and the Beast” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.