puellus

Latin

Etymology

Contracted from puerulus (“a little boy, a little slave”), the diminutive of puer (“boy”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /puˈel.lus/, [puˈɛlːʲʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /puˈel.lus/, [puˈɛlːus]

Noun

puellus m (genitive puellī, feminine puella); second declension

1. a young boy, a little boy
2. (in erotic context) catamite

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	puellus	puellī
Genitive	puellī	puellōrum
Dative	puellō	puellīs
Accusative	puellum	puellōs
Ablative	puellō	puellīs
Vocative	puelle	puellī

Synonyms

• puer
• puerulus
• pūsus
• putus

References

• “puellus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• puellus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.