plebs

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English

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Etymology

From Latin plēbs (the plebeian class), variant of earlier plēbēs. Later also understood as the plural of pleb.

Pronunciation

Noun

plebs

  1. (historical) The plebeian class of ancient Rome.
  2. The common people, especially (derogatory) the mob.
    • a. 1657, George Daniel, "The Author" in Poems, Vol. II, p. 131:
      For 'tis an Easier Thing
      To make Trees Leape, and Stones selfe-burthens bring
      (As once Amphion to the walls of Thæbes,)
      Then Stop the giddie Clamouring of Plebs...
    • 1993, Max Cavalera, "Refuse/Resist", Sepultura, Chaos A.D.
      Chaos A.D. / Tanks On The Streets / Confronting Police / Bleeding The Plebs
    • 2000, James Fentress, chapter 1, in Rebels & Mafiosi: Death in a Sicilian Landscape:
      The history of Palermo was punctuated by such uprisings; when they happened, the great barons simply fled to the safety of their country villas, leaving the urban plebs free to sack their palaces in the city.
    • 2009, Erica Benner, chapter 8, in Machiavelli's Ethics:
      The lesser plebs are not unscrupulous troublemakers.
  3. plural of pleb in its various senses.

Usage notes

Although the Latin plebs was usually declined as a singular group noun, English plebs is usually treated as grammatically plural in all its senses.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

References


Czech

Noun

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  1. plebs, commoners

Further reading


Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Latin plēbēs, from Proto-Italic *plēðūs (whence Oscan 𐌐𐌋𐌝𐌚𐌓𐌉𐌊𐌔 (plífriks, plebeian, nom. sg.) via *plēðros), from Proto-Indo-European *pléh₁dʰuh₁ (whence Ancient Greek πληθῡ́ς (plēthū́s, crowd)) from *pleh₁- (fill), whence pleō. See also populus.

Pronunciation

Noun

plēbs f (genitive plēbis); third declension

  1. (countable and uncountable) plebeians, common people

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem or imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative plēbs plēbēs
Genitive plēbis plēbium
plēbum
Dative plēbī plēbibus
Accusative plēbem plēbēs
plēbīs
Ablative plēbe plēbibus
Vocative plēbs plēbēs

The non-i-stem variant is found in Medieval Latin.

Derived terms

Descendants

Template:mid2

References

  • plebs”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • plebs”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • plebs in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • plebs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • one of the people: homo plebeius, de plebe
    • to get oneself admitted as a plebeian: traduci ad plebem (Att. 1. 18. 4)
    • to transfer oneself from the patrician to the plebeian order: transitio ad plebem (Brut. 16. 62)
    • to transfer oneself from the patrician to the plebeian order: traductio ad plebem
    • to stir up the lower classes: plebem concitare, sollicitare
    • to hold the people in one's power, in check: plebem continere
    • (ambiguous) the dregs of the people: faex populi, plebis, civitatis
    • (ambiguous) a demagogue, agitator: plebis dux, vulgi turbator, civis turbulentus, civis rerum novarum cupidus
    • (ambiguous) the plebeian tribunes, whose persons are inviolable: tribuni plebis sacrosancti (Liv. 3. 19. 10)
    • (ambiguous) to appeal to the plebeian tribunes against a praetor's decision: appellare tribunos plebis (in aliqua re a praetore) (Liv. 2. 55)
  • plebs”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers