plebe
/plib/
"plebe" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“plebe” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A plebeian, a member of the lower class of Roman citizens.
Corpus desk
Index EN-plebe · plebe · English
plebe · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | plebe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /plib/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “plebe” in English
Rare enough to double-check
plebe is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /plib/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for plebe in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), probably via Middle French plebe (“plebeians, commoners, the rabble”) and possibly later understood as a clipping of plebeian. Cognate with Italian plebe, Spanish plebe, Portuguese plebe. The correct English form is plebe, spelled P-L-E-B-E.
Definition
- 1A plebeian, a member of the lower class of Roman citizens.
- 2The plebs, the plebeian class.
- 3The similar lower class of any area.
- 4A freshman cadet at a military academy.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how plebe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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]: […]
All other roomes were free for the plebe or multitude.
Etymology
From Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), probably via Middle French plebe (“plebeians, commoners, the rabble”) and possibly later understood as a clipping of plebeian. Cognate with Italian plebe, Spanish plebe, Portuguese plebe.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.