proletariat

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages

Etymology

Borrowed from French prolétariat, from prolétaire + -at, from Latin proletārius, from prōlēt- (“offspring”) + -ārius, from stem of prōlēs, from pro- + *olēs (“growth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“to grow, nourish”). By surface analysis, Latin prōlēt- + -ary + -at.

In classic literature

Synonyms

labor, labour, working class

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