Bluebeard

Meanings

1. A famous fairy tale written by Charles Perrault in 1697 about a violent nobleman who has the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of his current wife to avoid the same fate.
2. The nobleman who is the title character of the story.

1. A man who marries and then murders one wife after another.

1. Any of the genus Caryopteris of plants native to eastern Asia, now cultivated in gardens.

Etymology

Calque of French Barbe-Bleue (literally “blue beard”).