Spartiate

S1P3A1R1T1I1A1T1E1

noun

A Spartan, especially a full citizen.

Scrabble 11

Meanings

nounSpartiate (plural Spartiates)

plural Spartiates

  1. A Spartan, especially a full citizen.

    And this is a copie of the epiſtles, that the Spartiates ſent.

    1610, The Second Tome of the Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Laurence Kellam, […], →OCLC, 1 Machabees 14:19, page 940
    4 more examples

    Aristotle recognises only one thousand families of the ancient Spartiates; […]

    1884, Leopold von Ranke, “Relations of Persia and Greece During the First Half of the Fourth Century”, in G[eorge] W[alter] Prothero, editor, Universal History: The Oldest Historical Group of Nations and the Greeks, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, page 366

    Other Spartiates commanded troops, but only a king or his regent could normally lead out the Spartan army and the forces of the Peloponnesian League.

    1994, Paul Anthony Rahe, “The Structure of Politics in Classical Sparta”, in The Ancien Régime in Classical Greece (Republics Ancient and Modern), volume I, Chapel Hill, N.C.; London: The University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 153

    Inside, the Spartiates interrupted a tense family drama. Although the voices fell silent at the approach of the two Spartiates, they came into the kitchen to find Chryse in tears, Melissa looking self-righteous, Pelopidas looking beaten, and Laodice and Polychares both angry, while poor Kleon tried to make himself invisible in a corner.

    2011, Helena P. Schrader, “A Political Expedient”, in Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer, Wheatmark, →ISBN, page 408

    Every year Sparta would formally declare war on its neighbor so that any Spartiate (as full citizens were called—only the child of two Spartiates might become one) could commit murder legally; […]

    2019, Ed West, Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History that Inspired Game of Thrones, Skyhorse Publishing, →ISBN

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Ancient GreekΣπᾰρτῐᾱ́της
  2. LatinSpartiātēs
  3. Middle EnglishSparciate
  4. EnglishSpartiate

From Middle English Sparciate, from Latin Spartiātēs, from Ancient Greek Σπᾰρτῐᾱ́της (Spărtĭā́tēs), from Σπᾰ́ρτη (Spắrtē) + -ᾱ́της (-ā́tēs).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Spartiate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Spartiate

MLA

“Spartiate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Spartiate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Spartiate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Spartiate.

Source: Spartiate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.