plebe

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.

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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːb

plebe (plural plebes)

1. (historical, usually in the plural) A plebeian, a member of the lower class of Roman citizens.
   • 1562–1565 (date written), Thomas Smyth [i.e., Thomas Smith], “The Diuision of the Parts and Persons of the Common Wealth”, in De Republica Anglorum. The Maner of Gouernement or Policie of the Realme of England, […], London: […] Henrie Midleton for Gregorie Seton, published 1583, →OCLC, pages 19–20:

     Another the like was among the Romanes of Patricij & plebes, thone ſtriuing with thother a long time, the patricij many yeares excluding the plebes from bearing rule, vntill at laſt all magiſtrates were made cõmon [common] betweene thẽ [them]: […]

2. (historical, obsolete) The plebs, the plebeian class.
   • 1612, Thomas Heywood, chapter II, in An Apology for Actors:

     All other roomes were free for the plebe or multitude.

3. (obsolete) The similar lower class of any area.
4. (US, military, slang) A freshman cadet at a military academy.
   • 1834 October, Military & Naval Magazine, page 85:

     My drill master, a young stripling, told me I was not so ‘gross’ as most other pleibs, the name of all new cadets.

   • 1910, H. Irving Hancock, Dick Prescott's Second Year at West Point, page 84:

     "But is a plebe forbidden to stroll here?"
     "If a plebe did have the brass to try it," replied Anstey slowly, "I reckon he would have to fight the whole yearling class in turn."

   • 2014, David Lipsky, Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point, page 8:

     Plebes spend their first summer at Cadet Basic Training — Beast Barracks — where they get soldierized.

   • 2018 October 26, Joe Crochet, My Winning Seasons: Discovering the Champion Within, page 3:

     “You went to The Citadel?” her mother chimed in. “I’ve heard so many great things about that institution. Did you go through a plebe year?” I told her I did and that we called it the knob year because freshman cadets had to shave their heads bald to resemble the butt end of a door knob and keep it that way for an entire ten months while going through the process of being broken down, only to be built back up.

• pleb, plebe class, plebe year, plebeskin

• pleb, plebs, plebeian

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

• bleep

Borrowed from Latin plēbem. Compare the inherited doublet pieve.

• IPA^(key): /ˈplɛ.be/
• Rhymes: -ɛbe
• Hyphenation: plè‧be

plebe f (plural plebi)

1. (historical, Ancient Rome) plebs (plebeian class)

   Antonym: patriziato

2. (literary) plebs, commoners, common people (as opposed to nobility)

   Synonym: popolo

   Antonyms: aristocrazia, nobiltà

3. (derogatory, dated) mob, rabble, riffraff

   Synonyms: massa, popolino, volgo

4. (figurative, poetic) multitude, mass (of people)

   Synonym: moltitudine

5. (figurative, poetic, rare) multitude, mass (of plants)

   Synonym: moltitudine

• plebaglia

• plebe in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

plēbe f

1. ablative singular of plēbs

Borrowed from Latin plēbem.

• Hyphenation: ple‧be

plebe f (plural plebes)

1. plebs (the common people)

Borrowed from French plèbe, Latin plebs, plebem.

plebe f (uncountable)

1. plebs, the common people, commonality, commoners, the lower orders

Borrowed from Latin plēbem.

• IPA^(key): /ˈplebe/ [ˈple.β̞e]
• Rhymes: -ebe
• Syllabification: ple‧be

plebe f (plural plebes)

1. plebeians, common people

   Synonym: chusma

2. (historical) plebs

plebe m or f by sense (plural plebes)

1. (colloquial, Sinaloa and Sonora, Mexico) kid, child
2. (New Mexico) kids, children, mass noun, compare with gente usage

   ¿Dónde está la plebe?

   Where are the kids?

• “plebe”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024