plebeian
pronunciation
How to pronounce plebeian in British English:
UK [pləˈbi:ən]
How to pronounce plebeian in American English:
US [plɪˈbiən]
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- Noun:
- one of the common people
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- Adjective:
- of the common people of ancient Rome
- of or associated with the great masses of people
Word Origin
- plebeian
- plebeian: [16] The plēbs were the ‘common people’ of ancient Rome (the word may connected with Greek pléthos ‘multitude’, a relative of English plethora). English gets plebeian from its derived adjective plēbēius. The connotations of ‘lower-classness’ have been transferred from ancient Rome to the present day, and inspired the derogatory pleb [19]. A plebiscite [16] is etymologically a ‘decree approved by the common people’.
- plebeian (n.)
- "member of the lowest class," 1530s, from Latin plebius "person not of noble rank," from adjective meaning "of the common people" (see plebeian (adj.)).
- plebeian (adj.)
- also plebian, "of or characteristic of the lower class," 1560s in a Roman historical sense, from Latin plebeius "belonging to the plebs," earlier plebes, "the populace, the common people" (as opposed to patricians, etc.), also "commonality; the mass, the multitude; the lower class," from PIE *ple- (see pleio-). In general (non-historical) use from 1580s.