pubes

English

Etymology 1

From Latin pubes (“the hair which appears on the body at the age of puberty, the genitals”), from pubes, puber (“grown up, of mature age; of plants, downy, pubescent”); see puberty.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pjuːbiz/
• Rhymes: -uːbiz

Noun

pubes

1. plural of pubis; pubic bones.

Noun

pubes pl (plural only)

1. The pubic hair.
2. The pubic region.

Translations

The pubic region

• Maori: puke huruhuru (Refers only to women), puke

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpjuːbz/
• Rhymes: -uːbz

Noun

pubes

1. plural of pube

Usage notes

It is not uncommon today for even educated people to be familiar with the back-formed sense of pubes and its singular, pube, while being unaware of the original sense, declension, and etymology. Whereas the original sense occurs mostly in medical English rather than lay English, the newer sense is widely encountered in casual online culture, despite that it is informal enough not to be used in formal-register lay vocabulary.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:pubic hair

Related terms

• puberty
• pubic

Further reading

• pubes in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• pubes in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.

Anagrams

• EPUBs, epubs

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Galician

Noun

pubes

1. plural of pube (pubic bones)

Noun

pubes

1. plural of pube (crab lice)

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Latin

Etymology 1

Possible connection with puer, pūpa, pūsus, putus.

Alternative forms

• pūber
• pūbis

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpuː.bes/, [ˈpuː.bɛs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpu.bes/, [ˈpuː.bɛs]

Adjective

pūbes (genitive pūberis); third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem)

1. adult
2. pubescent
3. ripe
4. downy (of plants)

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem).

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	pūbes			pūberēs	pūbera
Genitive	pūberis			pūberum
Dative	pūberī			pūberibus
Accusative	pūberem	pūbes		pūberēs	pūbera
Ablative	pūbere			pūberibus
Vocative	pūbes			pūberēs	pūbera

Derived terms

• pūbertās
• pūbēscō

Descendants

• Italian: pubere
• → Dutch: puber
• → Portuguese: púbere
• → Spanish: púber

Etymology 2

From pūbēs (“adult”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpuː.beːs/, [ˈpuː.beːs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpu.bes/, [ˈpuː.bɛs]

Noun

pūbēs f (genitive pūbis); third declension

1. youth
2. youthfulness
3. pubic hair

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pūbēs	pūbēs
Genitive	pūbis	pūbium
Dative	pūbī	pūbibus
Accusative	pūbem	pūbēs pūbīs
Ablative	pūbe	pūbibus
Vocative	pūbēs	pūbēs

Descendants

• Italian: pube
• Portuguese: pube, pubes, púbis

References

• pubes1 in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pubes2 in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pubes in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pubes in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• pubes in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pubes in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin