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Definition of populace - 4 dictionary results

pop⋅u⋅lace

  [pop-yuh-luhs]
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–noun
1. the common people of a community, nation, etc., as distinguished from the higher classes.
2. all the inhabitants of a place; population.
Origin:
1565–75; < F < It popolaccio, equiv. to popol(o) people + -accio pejorative suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pop·u·lace   (pŏp'yə-lĭs)   
n.  
  1. The general public; the masses.
  2. A population.

[French, from Italian popolaccio, rabble, from popolo, the people, from Latin populus; see popular.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Populace

Pop"u*lace\, n. [F. populace, fr. It. popolaccio, popolazzo, fr. popolo people, L. populus. See People.] The common people; the vulgar; the multitude, -- comprehending all persons not distinguished by rank, office, education, or profession. --Pope.

To . . . calm the peers and please the populace. --Daniel.

They . . . call us Britain's barbarous populaces. --Tennyson.

Syn: Mob; people; commonalty.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : populace
Spanish: pueblo,
German: das Volk,
Japanese: 大衆
More Translations »

populace 
1572, from M.Fr. populace, from It. popolaccio "riffraff, rabble," from popolo "people" (from L. populus "people") + pejorative suffix -accio.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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