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“proletariat”
bourgeois, proletariat
bourgeois (boor ZHWA, BOOR zhwa") (noun)
An individual or group that is perceived socially and economically as the middle class; a tendency towards material interests and respectability: By living in town, the farmer attempted to be a bourgeois in his lifestyle.
proletariat (pro" li TAR ee it) (noun)
Of or pertaining to the lower social or economic class in a community, such as industrial workers or laborers: The proletariat attempted to form a union at the linen mill in an effort to improve their living standards."
In the very class conscious society of the last century, there were clear distinctions between the bourgeois, who lived in grand houses, and the proletariat, who lived in small and crowded huts.
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Confusing Words Clarified: Group B; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc.
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proli-, prol- +
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Word Entries at Get Words:
“proletariat”
1. The working class or lower social class: In ancient Rome, the proletariats were the lowest class of citizens, who had no property and who were regarded as contributing nothing to the state except their offspring.
2. The wage earners collectively, excluding salaried workers: Jim's father was a member of the proletariat who was being paid hourly wages.
3. Etymology: from Latin proletarius, "a man whose only wealth is his offspring" or "whose sole service to the state is as a father."
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2. The wage earners collectively, excluding salaried workers: Jim's father was a member of the proletariat who was being paid hourly wages.
3. Etymology: from Latin proletarius, "a man whose only wealth is his offspring" or "whose sole service to the state is as a father."
By 1856, the term proletariats was applied specifically to the laboring or working classes of people in Europe who were characterized as having no reserve money and who depended only on low wages for subsistence.
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English Words in Action, Group P
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