ephor

[ ef-awr, ef-er ]

/ ˈɛf ɔr, ˈɛf ər /

noun, plural eph·ors, eph·or·i [ef-uh-rahy] /ˈɛf əˌraɪ/.

one of a body of magistrates in various ancient Dorian states, especially at Sparta, where a body of five was elected annually by the people.

Nearby words

Origin of ephor

1580–90; < Latin ephorus < Greek éphoros overseer, guardian, ruler (Compare ephorân to look over, equivalent to ep- ep- + horân to see, look)

Related formseph·or·al, adjectiveeph·or·ate

[ef-uh-reyt, -er-it] /ˈɛf əˌreɪt, -ər ɪt/, eph·or·al·ty

[ef-er-uh l-tee] /ˈɛf ər əl ti/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ephor

He was here met by Diphridas the Ephor, who brought him orders to invade Bœotia immediately.
Plutarch's Lives Volume III.|Plutarch
Ephor, ef′or, n. a class of magistrates whose office apparently originated at Sparta, being peculiar to the Doric states.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)|Various
In 560 (or 556) he acted as ephor, an office which he is even said to have founded.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 2|Various
Chilo, the Lacedaemonian ephor, is placed also among the seven.
Athens: Its Rise and Fall, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Upon this the same Ephor asked him whether he repented of what he had done.
Plutarch's Lives, Volume IV|Aubrey Stewart

British Dictionary definitions for ephor

ephor

/ (ˈɛfɔː) /

noun plural -ors or -ori (-əˌraɪ)

(in ancient Greece) one of a board of senior magistrates in any of several Dorian states, esp the five Spartan ephors, who were elected by vote of all full citizens and who wielded effective power

Derived Formsephoral, adjectiveephorate, noun

Word Origin for ephor

C16: from Greek ephoros, from ephoran to supervise, from epi- + horan to look

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ephor

ephor

"Spartan magistrate," 1580s, from Greek ephoros "overseer," from epi- "over" (see epi-) + horan "to see" (see warrant (n.)).