A beard is the hair round the chin, on the cheeks, and the upper lip, which is a distinction of the male sex and of manhood. It differs from the hair on the head by its greater hardness and its form. Some nations have hardly any, others a great profusion. The latter generally consider it as a great ornament; the former pluck it out; as, for instance, the American Indians. The beard has often been considered as a mark of the sage and the priest. Moses forbade the Jews to shave their beards. With the ancient Germans the cutting off another's beard was a high offence. Even as late as 1900 the beard was regarded as a mark of great dignity among many nations in the East, as the Turks.
Alexander the Great introduced shaving among the Greeks, by ordering his soldiers to wear no beards; among the Romans it was introduced in 296 BC. The custom of shaving is said to have come into use in modern times during the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV of France, both of whom ascended the throne without a beard. Until then fashion had given divers forms of moustaches and beards. It is only in comparatively recent times that beards and moustaches have again become common. Research Beard
Abbreviations
Costume
Research Beard