catamite

cat·a·mite
C3A1T1A1M3I1T1E1
/ˈkætəmaɪt/

noun

A boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

nouncatamite (plural catamites)

plural catamites

  1. A boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man.

    And what about your brother? – Is he to be a catamite?

    2007 July 4, Mere Smith, “Heroes of the Republic”, in Rome, season 2, episode 5, spoken by Lyde
    1 more example

    It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me.

    1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers, page 7

    Synonyms: Ganymede, punk, gunsel

verbcatamite (third-person singular simple present catamites, present participle catamiting, simple past and past participle catamited)

present singular third person catamites · participle present catamiting · participle past catamited · past catamited

  1. To engage in a homoerotic relationship involving a boy and an older man.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man.

Origin

  1. Ancient GreekΓανυμήδης“Ganymede”
  2. Etruscan𐌂𐌀𐌕𐌌𐌉𐌕𐌄
  3. Latincatamītus“boy kept as a sexual partner”
  4. Englishcatamite

From Latin catamītus (“boy kept as a sexual partner”), from Catamītus, from Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌕𐌌𐌉𐌕𐌄 (catmite), from Ancient Greek Γανυμήδης (Ganumḗdēs, “Ganymede”), an attractive Trojan boy supposedly abducted to Mount Olympus by the god Zeus to become his cupbearer and lover. Doublet of Ganymede.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek μαλακός, ἐρώμενος
  • μαλακός (malakós)catamite
  • ἐρώμενος (erṓmenos)catamite
Arabic مَأْبُون
  • مَأْبُون (maʔbūn)catamite
Chinese Mandarin 孌童 /娈童
  • 孌童 /娈童 (luántóng)catamite
Dutch schandknaap
  • schandknaapcatamite
Finnish katamiitti
  • katamiitticatamite
French catamite
  • catamitecatamite
German Lustknabe
  • Lustknabecatamite
Hebrew קָדֵשׁ
  • קָדֵשׁ (qadésh)catamite
Hindi विदूषक
  • विदूषक (vidūṣak)catamite
Japanese 陰間, 稚児
  • 陰間 (kagema)catamite
  • 稚児 (chigo)catamite
Latin catamītus, pathicus
  • catamītuscatamite
  • pathicuscatamite
  • deliciumcatamite
  • glabercatamite
Persian بچهقشنگ, بچهخوشگل
  • بچهقشنگ (bačče-qašang)catamite
  • بچهخوشگل (bačče-xošgel)catamite
  • شاهد (šâhed)catamite
Portuguese catamita
  • catamitacatamite
Russian катами́т
  • катами́т (katamít)catamite
Spanish catamito
  • catamitocatamite
Turkish oğlan
  • oğlancatamite
Welsh bryntwas
  • bryntwascatamite
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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