Standard Lemma guide

béguin

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /beˈɡiːn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An infatuation or fancy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Colloquial French béguin (“bonnet”). The verb embéguiner (“to wear a bonnet”) came to mean ‘to have a crush on someone’. The word itself came from beguine (lay nuns who typically wore such bonnets).

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Russian: стра́сть (strástʹ) — an infatuation or fancy