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Did you know: Yes, the stuff that forms in your eyes when you sleep does have a name.

proletariat

 - 5 dictionary results

pro·le·tar·i·at

   [proh-li-tair-ee-uht]
–noun
1.
the class of wage earners, esp. those who earn their living by manual labor or who are dependent for support on daily or casual employment; the working class.
2.
(in Marxist theory) the class of workers, esp. industrial wage earners, who do not possess capital or property and must sell their labor to survive.
3.
the lowest or poorest class of people, possessing no property, esp. in ancient Rome.
Use proletariat in a Sentence
Origin:
1850–55; < F prolétariat; see proletary, -ate3

—Related forms
non·pro·le·tar·i·at, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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World English Dictionary
proletariat (ˌprəʊlɪˈtɛərɪət) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  all wage-earners collectively
2.  the lower or working class
3.  (in Marxist theory) the class of wage-earners, esp industrial workers, in a capitalist society, whose only possession of significant material value is their labour
4.  (in ancient Rome) the lowest class of citizens, who had no property
 
[C19: via French from Latin prōlētāriusproletarian]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin & History

proletariat
1853, from Fr. prolétariat, from L. proletarius (see proletarian). Back formation prole is attested from 1887; popularized by George Orwell's 1949 novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cultural Dictionary
proletariat [(proh-luh-tair-ee-uht)]

In Marxism, the industrial working class, people without property.

proletariat [(proh-luh-tair-ee-uht)]

A term often applied to industrial workers, particularly by followers of Karl Marx.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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