catamite
/ˈkætəmaɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.14 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man.
verb
To engage in a homoerotic relationship involving a boy and an older man.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "And what about your brother? – Is he to be a catamite?"
Etymology
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.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: catamītus, 𐌂𐌀𐌕𐌌𐌉𐌕𐌄, Γανυμήδης