Word.ws English Dictionary

ephor

UK/ˈɛfə/US/ˈɛfɚ/

ephor noun: one of the five annually-elected senior magistrates in various Dorian states, especially in ancient Sparta, where they oversaw the actions of Spartan kings.

Noun (1)

ephor (plural ephors)

  1. (historical) One of the five annually-elected senior magistrates in various Dorian states, especially in ancient Sparta, where they oversaw the actions of Spartan kings.
    • Agesilaus was fined by the Ephories, because he had drawne the hearts and good wills of al his fellow-citizens unto himselfe alone.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 32, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
    • Then one of his servants came and told him the news, as he sat in council with the Ephors; whereat, remembering when it was that the woman became his wife, he counted the months upon his fingers, and having so done, cried out with an oath, "The boy cannot be mine." This was said in the hearing of...1942, “Erato”, in George Rawlinson, transl., The Persian Wars, translation of original by Herodotus
  2. A superintendent or curator.

Noun (2) capitalized: Ephor

Ephor (plural Ephors)

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of ephor

Forms of ephor

pluralephors
alternative formEphor
alternative formephoros
alternative formephorus
pluralEphors

Origin of ephor

From Ancient Greek ἔφορος (éphoros, “overseer”), from Homeric ἐπίουρος (epíouros), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + ὁράω (horáō, “look”).

Words formed from ephor

Questions about ephor

What does ephor mean?
Ephor means one of the five annually-elected senior magistrates in various Dorian states, especially in ancient Sparta, where they oversaw the actions of Spartan kings.
What part of speech is ephor?
Ephor is a noun.
How do you pronounce ephor?
Ephor is pronounced /ˈɛfə/ (UK).
What is the plural of ephor?
The plural of ephor is ephors.

Words near ephor in the dictionary

  1. ephippid
  2. ephippids
  3. ephippium
  4. ephod
  5. ephods
  6. ephor
  7. ephoral
  8. ephoralties
  9. ephoralty
  10. ephorate
  11. ephorates

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ephor (page history and authors); Ephor (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.

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