catamite
cat·a·mite/ˈkætəmaɪt/noun, verb
catamite is spelled C-A-T-A-M-I-T-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables (cat·a·mite). It appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, catamite means “A boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of catamite is catamites.
How many letters and syllables are in catamite?
| Letters | 8: C-A-T-A-M-I-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: cat·a·mite |
| In writing | about once in every 72 million words; the 269,040th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is catamite?
Catamite appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce catamite?
- /ˈkætəmaɪt/
Catamite has 3 syllables, split cat·a·mite in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-catamite.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of catamite
- catamites plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- catamiting participle, present
- catamited participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does catamite mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A boy or younger man in a homoerotic relationship with an older man.
verb
- 1
To engage in a homoerotic relationship involving a boy and an older man.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Catamite in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense catamite:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does catamite come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).