plebe

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

• (General American) IPA^(key): /plib/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pliːb/

Noun

plebe (plural plebes)

1. (historical, usually 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, 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.

References

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

Anagrams

• bleep

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

Noun

plēbe

1. ablative singular of plēbs

Noun

plebe f (plural plebes)

1. plebs (the common people)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin plēbs, plēbis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈple̞.βe̞/

Noun

plebe f (plural plebes)

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

plebe m, f (plural plebes)

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