plebe

---

Pronunciation

• (America) IPA: /plib/
• (RP) IPA: /pliːb/

Noun

plebe (plural plebes)

1. (historical, usually in the 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, military, 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.

   • 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."

Related terms

• pleb, plebs, plebeian

---

This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004