The story
From Belle + -inda, base from various Romance sources such as French belle, Italian bella (“beautiful”), suffix Latinate form of German linde (“soft”) (English linden, lithe). Popularised by Alexander Pope in his poem The Rape of the Lock (1714). The moon is named after a character in Pope's poem.
First known use, by meaning
- Discovered 1986 The ninth satellite of Uranus.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.