Etymologically
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ephebus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛˈpʰeː.bʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈfɛː.bus][1]

Forms

ephēbus m (genitive ephēbī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἔφηβος (éphēbos, “adolescent”).[2][3][1] The Greek word is made from ἐπί (epí, “on, at”) and ἥβη (hḗbē, “youth, puberty”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence uses it first, in the Andria and the Eunuchus;[3] the Andria has the phrase excessit ex ephēbīs, “he left the ranks of the youths”, that is, came of age, after the Greek idiom, and Cicero quotes it.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a Greek youth at the age of puberty;[2] in Athenian law, the OLD notes, a young man between 18 and 26,[2] while Lewis & Short give 18 to 20.[3] Cicero, Horace, Ovid and Suetonius use it,[3] and Statius has the contracted genitive plural ephēbum.[2][3] Stelten gives "page, youth between 16 and 21" for Church Latin.[5] The English ephebe comes from the Greek.[6]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence, of a young man coming of age.[3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero quotes Terence's phrase.[3]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius has the genitive plural ephēbum.[2]
  • 1690s – The English ephebe appears.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A Greek youth at the age of puberty, adolescent; in Athenian law, a young man between 18 and 26.[2]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A page, a youth.[5]

Word family

  • ephēbicus
  • English ephebe

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com