ephebe

See also: éphèbe

English

Etymology

Via Latin ephēbus, from Ancient Greek ἔφηβος (éphēbos, “adolescent”), from ἐπί (epí, “early”) +‎ ἥβη (hḗbē, “manhood”), late 19th c.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ɛˈfiːb/, /ɪˈfiːb/, /ˈɛfiːb/[1]

Noun

ephebe (plural ephebes or ephebi)

  1. (historical) A 18- to 20-year-old man in ancient Greece undergoing military training.
  2. (by extension) A young man; a youth.
    • 1922, James Joyce, “9”, in Ulysses, page 190:
      His glance touched their faces lightly as he smiled, a blond ephebe. Tame essence of Wilde.
    • 1993, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford:
      Indeed Tom was much still the ephebe, sharing boys with his friend though talking of the gravity of marriage.

Derived terms

References
  1. “ephebe” (US) / “ephebe” (UK) in Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press.

Latin

Noun

ephēbe m

  1. vocative singular of ephēbus
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