Word.ws English Dictionary

plebes

plebes is the plural of plebe.

Meaning of plebe

Noun

plebe (plural plebes)

  1. (historical, plural-normally) A plebeian, a member of the lower class of Roman citizens.
    • 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]: […]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...
  2. (historical, obsolete) The plebs, the plebeian class.
    • All other roomes were free for the plebe or multitude.1612, Thomas Heywood, chapter II, in An Apology for Actors
  3. (obsolete) The similar lower class of any area.
  4. (US, slang) A freshman cadet at a military academy.
    • My drill master, a young stripling, told me I was not so ‘gross’ as most other pleibs, the name of all new cadets.1834 October, Military & Naval Magazine, page 85

Questions about plebes

What is plebes the plural of?
Plebes is the plural of plebe.

Words near plebes in the dictionary

  1. plebeianly
  2. plebeianness
  3. plebeians
  4. plebeiate
  5. plebeity
  6. plebes
  7. plebeskin
  8. plebeskins
  9. plebeyan
  10. plebeyans
  11. Plebgate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plebes (page history and authors); plebe (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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