proletariat Hear it!

proletariat definition

pro·le·tari·at (prō′lə ter′ē ət)

noun

  1. the class of lowest status in ancient Roman society
  2. Rare the class of lowest status in any society
  3. the working class; esp., the industrial working class

Etymology: Fr prolétariat < L proletarius: see proletary

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.