First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin; cf. here ( def. ); Homo ( def. )
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A common term for an emaciated-looking man is to call him an "ecce homo," and a "grippe Jésus" is thieves' slang for a gendarme.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 88, April, 1875 by Various
Only don't make such an ecce homo face; go, rather, and pay your respects to his Excellency, the Governor.
From Tales From J?kai by J?kai, M?r
This flattered Goethe, who called it the inverse "ecce homo," and felt its allusion to his citizenship, not in Germany, but in the world.
From The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte Vol. III. (of IV.) by Sloane, William Milligan
"What are you making such an ecce homo face for?" she said, in her brusquest tone, which now stood her in good stead in concealing her emotion.
From In Paradise A Novel. Vol. II by Heyse, Paul
The hero is haunted by the notion that a great misfortune will fall upon his family, whenever a travelling dealer shall offer an ecce homo for sale to any one of its members.
From The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 3, February, 1851 by Various
Ecce Homo is believed to have belonged to the private collection of Spain's King Philip IV, before being exhibited in the apartments of his son, Charles II.
From BBC ● May 27, 2024
The oil-on-canvas work depicts the Biblical passage of the Ecce Homo, in which Jesus Christ is presented to the crowds before being crucified.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2024
Yes, this is the Ecce Homo of China, but only because an utterly insignificant artifact that nobody cared about was raised to artificially high prominence by a mediocre preservation attempt.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2016
Related: Life after a viral nightmare: from Ecce Homo to revenge porn Flack travelled to Borja in 2013 to meet Giménez and see firsthand how her ruined fresco had revived the town.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2015
“To me,” he said in Ecce Homo, “they are promises: I know not what they mean to others.”
From Thoughts Out of Season (Part II) by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
