Word.ws English Dictionary

bel-

/bɛl/

bel- prefix: a prefix equivalent to grand-.

Prefix (1)

bel-

  1. (idiomatic, obsolete) A prefix equivalent to grand-
    • belchild (“grandchild”)
    • beldame (“grandmother”)

Prefix (2) capitalized: Bel-

Bel-

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of Belgo-.

Origin of bel-

From Middle English bel (“fair, excellent"; in compounds "great-, grand-”), from Anglo-Norman bel, Old French bel (“beautiful, noble, honorable”).

Clipping of Belgian.

Questions about bel-

What does bel- mean?
Bel- means a prefix equivalent to grand-.
What part of speech is bel-?
Bel- is a prefix.
How do you pronounce bel-?
Bel- is pronounced /bɛl/.

Words near bel- in the dictionary

  1. Bel Air
  2. Bel and the Dragon
  3. bel canto
  4. bel esprit
  5. Bel Paese
  6. bel-
  7. bel-accoyle
  8. Bel-Air
  9. Bela
  10. Bela Shangul
  11. belabor

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bel- (page history and authors); Bel- (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “bel-.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bel-. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.