plebe

See also: plèbe

English

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /plib/
• IPA^(key): /pliːb/
• Rhymes: -iːb

Noun

plebe (plural plebes)

1. (historical, usually in the plural) A plebeian, a member of the lower class of Roman citizens.
   • 1583, Thomas Smith, De Republica Anglorum, Vol. I, Ch. xvi:

     The patricij many yeares excluding the plebes from bearing rule, vntill at last all magistrates were made common betweene them.

2. (historical, obsolete) The plebs, the plebeian class.
   • 1612, Thomas Heywood, An Apology for Actors, Ch. ii:

     All other roomes were free for the plebe or multitude.

3. (obsolete) The similar lower class of any area.
4. (US, military, slang) A freshman cadet at a military academy.
   • 1834 October, Military & Naval Magazine, p. 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."

Related terms

• pleb, plebs, plebeian

Derived terms

• pleb, plebe class, plebe year, plebeskin

Translations

plebeian — see plebeian

plebs — see plebs

first-year cadet

• Finnish: simppu (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

References

• “plebe, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2006.

Anagrams

• bleep

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin plēbem, accusative form of plēbs. Compare the doublet pieve.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈplɛ.be/, [ˈpl̺ɛːbe]
• Hyphenation: plè‧be

Noun

plebe f (plural plebi)

1. Common people
2. rabble, riffraff

Related terms

• plebaglia
• plebeo
• plebiscito

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Latin

Noun

(deprecated template usage) plēbe

1. ablative singular of plēbs

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin plēbs, plēbis.

Noun

plebe f (plural plebes)

1. plebs (the common people)

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French plèbe, Latin plebs, plebem.

Noun

plebe f (uncountable)

1. plebs, the common people, commonality, commoners, the lower orders

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin plēbs, plēbis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈplebe/ [ˈple.β̞e]

Noun

plebe f (plural plebes)

1. plebeians, common people
2. (historical) plebs

plebe m or f (plural plebes)

1. (colloquial, Sinaloa, Sonora, Mexico) kid, child

Synonyms

• (common people): chusma

Related terms

• plebeyo

Further reading

• “plebe”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014