proletariat
UK /ˌpɹəʊ.lɪˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ət/ · US /ˌpɹoʊ.lɪˈtɛɚ.i.ət/ noun
Forms proletariats proletariate
- noun (often derogatory, also figuratively) The lowest class of society; also, the lower classes of society generally; the masses.
- noun (Marxism) Wage earners collectively; people who own no capital and depend on their labour for survival; the working class, especially when seen as engaged in a class struggle with the bourgeoisie (“the capital-owning class”).
- noun (chiefly Ancient Rome, historical) The lowest class of citizens, who had no property and few rights, and were regarded as contributing only their offspring to the state.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French prolétariat, from prolétaire + -at, from Latin proletārius, from prōlēt- (“offspring”) + -ārius, from stem of prōlēs, from pro- + *olēs (“growth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“to grow, nourish”). By surface analysis, Latin prōlēt- + -ary + -at.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The indigent class in the State; the body of proletarians.
Etymology [F.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “proletariat”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details