eromenos

Definition

An adolescent boy in Ancient Greece who was loved by an older man, or was in an pedagogic relationship with him.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐρώμενος (erṓmenos, “beloved”).

Example Sentences

• "In his early twenties the young aristocratic lover (erastes) took a teen-aged youth, the eromenos or beloved, to bond with and train before going on at about age thirty to matrimony and fatherhood."