imperial beard
- noun
- /ɪmˈpɪr.i.əl bɪrd/
- Archaic
:
barba imperial
- After trimming his beard, he shaped it into a neat imperial beard for a historical costume party.
Examples
-
Many 19th-century portraits depict men with the fashionable imperial beard.
-
His imperial beard gave him a distinguished and somewhat royal appearance.
-
He sports an imperial beard that resembles those of historical figures.
-
The imperial beard was a popular trend in the 19th century.
-
After trimming his beard, he shaped it into a neat imperial beard for a historical costume party.
-
His imperial beard gave him a distinguished and somewhat royal appearance.
-
Many 19th-century portraits depict men with the fashionable imperial beard.
Synonyms
A small tuft of hair on the chin worn by some men
How Bearded
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'imperial' means 'relating to an emperor' and combined with 'beard' yields a readily inferable meaning of 'a beard associated with an emperor' so a B1 learner knowing both words would grasp the general idea of an emperor-style beard. However, the precise form described (a small tufted chin beard like Napoleon III) is a specialized, culturally specific detail that is not fully predictable from the constituents, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Imperial beard comes from the 1800s, when rulers like Napoleon III wore a small tuft of hair on the chin. The word imperial points to the emperor style and beard to the chin hair, so the phrase means 'a small, tufted beard on the chin'.