catamite
Syllables: cat·a·mite/ˈkætəmaɪt/
catamite noun: a boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man.
Noun
catamite (plural catamites)
- A boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man.
- It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me.1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers, page 7
- And what about your brother? – Is he to be a catamite?2007 July 4, Mere Smith, “Heroes of the Republic”, in Rome, season 2, episode 5, spoken by Lyde
Verb
catamite (third-person singular simple present catamites, present participle catamiting, simple past and past participle catamited)
- To engage in a homoerotic relationship involving a boy and an older man.
catamite meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Sanskrit and Pashto
catamite in Hindi
- catamite
- विदूषक vidūṣak
catamite in Tamil
- கரமைற்று
catamite in Sanskrit
- catamite
- विदूषक vidūṣaka
catamite in Pashto
- catamite
- چسکه
More languagesFewer languages
- catamite in Arabic
- مَأْبُون maʔbūn
- catamite in Persian
- بچهقشنگ bačče-qašang, بچهخوشگل bačče-xošgel, شاهد šâhed
Synonyms of catamite
Forms of catamite
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | catamites |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | catamites |
| present participle | catamiting |
| past participle | catamited |
| past | catamited |
Origin of catamite
From Latin catamītus (“boy kept as a sexual partner”), from Catamītus, from Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌕𐌌𐌉𐌕𐌄 (catmite), from Ancient Greek Γανυμήδης (Ganumḗdēs, “Ganymede”), an attractive Trojan boy supposedly abducted to Mount Olympus by the god Zeus to become his cupbearer and lover. Doublet of Ganymede.
Words formed from catamite
Questions about catamite
- What does catamite mean?
- Catamite means a boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man.
- What is catamite in Hindi?
- Catamite in Hindi is विदूषक (vidūṣak). See Catamite meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is catamite?
- Catamite can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce catamite?
- Catamite is pronounced /ˈkætəmaɪt/.
- What is the plural of catamite?
- The plural of catamite is catamites.
Words near catamite in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: catamite (page history and authors); catamite (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-catamite.wav.
Cite this entry: “catamite.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catamite. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.