Definition of "beau"

“I do not comprehend the meaning of the word. But this I can say, that if he ever was a beau before he married, he is one still, for there is not the smallest alteration in him.”“Oh! dear! one never thinks of married mens’[sic] being beaux—they have something else to do.”

1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 21, in Sense and Sensibility […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […]

Hannah's beau takes all her time 'n' thought, and when she gits a husband her mother'll be out o' sight and out o' mind.

1917, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, page 142

“I don’t see how. But anyhow, you’ll be rich some day—your Aunt Elizabeth will likely leave you all her money, Mother says. So I don’t care if you are living on charity—I love you and I’m going to stick up for you. Have you got a beau, Emily?”“No,” cried Emily, blushing violently and quite scandalized at the idea. “Why, I’m only eleven.”

1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 8”, in Emily of New Moon

Kristin Davis has taken time out to enjoy the surf and sand with her Australian beau, photographer Russell James.

2009 December 10, Philippa Bourke, Monsters and Critics‎

Reporters ask her about her love life—her current beau is rumored to be Conor Kennedy, a grandson of Robert F. Kennedy—even if they get nowhere.

2012 October 24, Jon Caramanica, “No More Kid Stuff for Taylor Swift”, in The New York Times‎

Everyone was feeling grandacious, as if getting dressed for a night of beauing.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 74