plebe
Appearance
See also: plèbe
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), probably via Middle French plebe (“plebeians, commoners, the rabble”) and possibly later understood as a clipping of plebeian. Cognate with Italian plebe, Spanish plebe, Portuguese plebe.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /plib/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pliːb/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -iːb
Noun
[edit]plebe (plural plebes)
- (historical, usually in the plural) A plebeian, a member of the lower class of Roman citizens.
- 1562–1565 (date written), Thomas Smyth [i.e., Thomas Smith], “The Diuision of the Parts and Persons of the Common Wealth”, in De Republica Anglorum. The Maner of Gouernement or Policie of the Realme of England, […], London: […] Henrie Midleton for Gregorie Seton, published 1583, →OCLC, pages 19–20:
- Another the like was among the Romanes of Patricij & plebes, thone ſtriuing with thother a long time, the patricij many yeares excluding the plebes from bearing rule, vntill at laſt all magiſtrates were made cõmon [common] betweene thẽ [them]: […]
- (historical, obsolete) The plebs, the plebeian class.
- 1612, Thomas Heywood, chapter II, in An Apology for Actors:
- All other roomes were free for the plebe or multitude.
- (obsolete) The similar lower class of any area.
- (US, military, slang) A freshman cadet at a military academy.
- 1834 October, Military & Naval Magazine, page 85:
- My drill master, a young stripling, told me I was not so ‘gross’ as most other pleibs, the name of all new cadets.
- 1910, H. Irving Hancock, Dick Prescott's Second Year at West Point, page 84:
- "But is a plebe forbidden to stroll here?"
"If a plebe did have the brass to try it," replied Anstey slowly, "I reckon he would have to fight the whole yearling class in turn."
- 2014, David Lipsky, Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point, page 8:
- Plebes spend their first summer at Cadet Basic Training — Beast Barracks — where they get soldierized.
- 2018 October 26, Joe Crochet, My Winning Seasons: Discovering the Champion Within, page 3:
- “You went to The Citadel?” her mother chimed in. “I’ve heard so many great things about that institution. Did you go through a plebe year?” I told her I did and that we called it the knob year because freshman cadets had to shave their heads bald to resemble the butt end of a door knob and keep it that way for an entire ten months while going through the process of being broken down, only to be built back up.
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]plebeian — see plebeian
plebs — see plebs
References
[edit]- “plebe, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2006.
Anagrams
[edit]Italian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Latin plēbem. Compare the inherited doublet pieve.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]plebe f (plural plebi)
- (historical, Ancient Rome) plebs (plebeian class)
- Antonym: patriziato
- (literary) plebs, commoners, common people (as opposed to nobility)
- Synonym: popolo
- Antonyms: aristocrazia, nobiltà
- (derogatory, dated) mob, rabble, riffraff
- (figurative, poetic) multitude, mass (of people)
- Synonym: moltitudine
- (figurative, poetic, rare) multitude, mass (of plants)
- Synonym: moltitudine
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- plebe in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Latin
[edit]Noun
[edit]plēbe f
Portuguese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]
- Hyphenation: ple‧be
Noun
[edit]plebe f (plural plebes)
- plebs (the common people)
Romanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from French plèbe, Latin plebs, plebem.
Noun
[edit]plebe f (uncountable)
- plebs, the common people, commonality, commoners, the lower orders
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]plebe f (plural plebes)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Noun
[edit]plebe m or f by sense (plural plebes)
- (colloquial, Sinaloa and Sonora, Mexico) kid, child
- (New Mexico) kids, children, mass noun, compare with gente usage
- ¿Dónde está la plebe?
- Where are the kids?
Further reading
[edit]- “plebe”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
Categories:
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/iːb
- Rhymes:English/iːb/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with historical senses
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- American English
- en:Military
- English slang
- en:People
- en:Roman Empire
- Italian terms borrowed from Latin
- Italian terms derived from Latin
- Italian doublets
- Italian 2-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ɛbe
- Rhymes:Italian/ɛbe/2 syllables
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian countable nouns
- Italian feminine nouns
- Italian terms with historical senses
- it:Ancient Rome
- Italian literary terms
- Italian derogatory terms
- Italian dated terms
- Italian poetic terms
- Italian terms with rare senses
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin noun forms
- Portuguese terms borrowed from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese feminine nouns
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms borrowed from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian uncountable nouns
- Romanian feminine nouns
- Spanish terms borrowed from Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/ebe
- Rhymes:Spanish/ebe/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish feminine nouns
- Spanish terms with historical senses
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Spanish nouns with multiple genders
- Spanish masculine and feminine nouns by sense
- Spanish colloquialisms
- Sinaloa Spanish
- Mexican Spanish
- New Mexico Spanish
- Spanish terms with usage examples