proletariat

See also Proletariat, prolétariat, and proletariát

English

Alternative forms

• proletariate

Etymology

From French prolétariat, from Latin proletarius (“a man whose only wealth is his offspring, or whose sole service to the state is as father”), from proles (“offspring, posterity”)

Pronunciation

(US) enPR: 'prōlĭʹtârēət, IPA: /ˌproʊlɪˈtɛəriət/, SAMPA: %pr\oUlI"tEr\i@t

Noun

proletariat (countable and uncountable; plural proletariats)

1. The working class or lower class.
   • 1906, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party^[1], page 173:

     "Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie to day the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class."

2. The wage earners collectively, excluding salaried workers.
3. (history) In ancient Rome, the lowest class of citizens, who had no property.

Translations

working class or lower class

Czech: proletariát (cs) m. Estonian: proletariaat (et), töölisklass (et) Finnish: proletariaatti (fi), työväenluokka (fi), alaluokka (fi) French: prolétariat (fr) m. German: Proletariat (de) n. Greek: προλεταριάτο (el) (proletariato) n.

Macedonian: пролетаријат (mk) (proletariját) m. Polish: proletariat (pl) m. Russian: пролетариат (ru) (proletariát) m. Scottish Gaelic: mòr-sluagh (gd) m. Spanish: proletariado (es) m.

wage-earners collectively

Finnish: proletariaatti (fi), palkansaajat (fi)

Russian: пролетариат (ru) (proletariát) m.

lowest class of citizens in Rome

Finnish: proletaarit (fi) German: Proletariat (de) n.

Russian: пролетариат (ru) (proletariát) m.

See also

• Proletariat on Wikipedia.Wikipedia