proletariat
/ˌpɹəʊ.lɪˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ət/
proletariat means the lowest class of society; also, the lower classes of society generally; the masses. It carries an Arena rating of 1573, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, proletariat ranks #107 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #168 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,192 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #8,337 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
proletariat is pronounced /ˌpɹəʊ.lɪˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ət/.
Why “proletariat” is a great word
The class of laborers who, possessing no means of production of their own, are compelled to sell their labor-power to live. From French prolétariat, from Latin proletarius ("a citizen of the lowest class, whose service to the state was producing offspring"), from prōlēs ("offspring, progeny"). Unlike the bourgeoisie, who own capital and purchase labor, or the plebeian, a Roman citizen of common birth but possessing political rights, the proletariat is defined by its stark, universal relation to the factory floor, the cash-register, and the clock. It is the chill of the predawn shift, the ache in the hands at day’s end, and the abstracted value of a lifetime measured in hourly wages—the vast and necessary foundation upon which all other comforts quietly rest.
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.
noun
- The lowest class of society; also, the lower classes of society generally; the masses.
- 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”).
- The lowest class of citizens, who had no property and few rights, and were regarded as contributing only their offspring to the state.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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