the proletariat
noun/ðə ˌprəʊləˈteəriət/
/ðə ˌprəʊləˈteriət/
[singular + singular or plural verb] (specialist)- (used especially when talking about the past) the class of ordinary people who earn money by working, especially those who do not own any property
- the industrial proletariat
- Marx wrote of the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
- The proletariat was/were politically dominant for the first time.
Word Originmid 19th cent.: from French prolétariat, from Latin proletarius (from proles ‘offspring’), denoting a person having no wealth in property, who only served the state by producing offspring.Definitions on the go
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the proletariat