beauty [ME] The Latin word bellus, ‘beautiful’[LME], is the root of beauty, and also of a beau [ME], and belle [ME]. The idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder is very old indeed, appearing in the works of the ancient Greek poet Theocritus (fl.3rd century bc). In English the proverb as we know it today is recorded from the 17th century. The warning that beauty is only skin-deep is known from the early 17th century. The beautiful game is soccer. The phrase is from the title of the 1973 autobiography by the Brazilian star Pelé, My Life and the Beautiful Game.