Erastes

//ɛˈɹæsteɪs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An adult man in Ancient Greece who loved or was in a pedagogic relationship with an adolescent boy. historical

    "In regard to the boys (erōmenos) involved in ancient Greek pederasty, Dover (1978:52) asked: “What does the eromenos get out of submission to his erastēs?”"

Synonyms

All synonyms
eromenos

Example

More examples

"In regard to the boys (erōmenos) involved in ancient Greek pederasty, Dover (1978:52) asked: “What does the eromenos get out of submission to his erastēs?”"

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐραστής (erastḗs, “lover”).

Related phrases

ancient greece

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.