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/
• Rhymes: -iːb

Noun

ephebe (plural ephebes)

1. (historical) An 18- to 20-year-old man in ancient Greece undergoing military training.
2. (by extension) A young man; a youth.
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 9: Scylla and Charybdis]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 190:

     His glance touched their faces lightly as he smiled, a blond ephebe. Tame essence of [Oscar] 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

• ephebophilia

Related terms

• ephebos
• ephebus

Latin

Noun

ephēbe m

1. vocative singular of ephēbus