ephebe

E1P3H4E1B3E1
/ɛˈfiːb//ɪˈfiːb//ˈɛfiːb/

noun

An 18- to 20-year-old man in ancient Greece undergoing military training.

OriginLatin ephēbus ← Ancient Greek ἔφηβος →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounephebe (plural ephebes)

plural ephebes

  1. historicalAn 18- to 20-year-old man in ancient Greece undergoing military training.
  2. broadlyA young man; a youth.

    His glance touched their faces lightly as he smiled, a blond ephebe. Tame essence of [Oscar] Wilde.

    1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 9: Scylla and Charybdis]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 190
    1 more example

    Indeed Tom was much still the ephebe, sharing boys with his friend though talking of the gravity of marriage.

    1993, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
ephebosephebus

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἔφηβος“adolescent”
  2. Latinephēbus
  3. Englishephebe

Via Latin ephēbus, from Ancient Greek ἔφηβος (éphēbos, “adolescent”), from ἐπί (epí, “early”) + ἥβη (hḗbē, “manhood”), late 19th c.

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with ephebe

glebegrebeBeebreebplebeshibeseebfeeb
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

ephebe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ephebe

MLA

“ephebe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ephebe. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ephebe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ephebe.

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