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plebeian

   Also found in: Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
ple·be·ian  (pl-bn)
adj.
1. Of or relating to the common people of ancient Rome: a plebeian magistrate.
2. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of commoners.
3. Unrefined or coarse in nature or manner; common or vulgar: plebeian tastes.
n.
1. One of the common people of ancient Rome.
2. A member of the lower classes.
3. A vulgar or coarse person.

[From Latin plbius, from plbs, plb-, the common people; see pel-1 in Indo-European roots.]

ple·beian·ism n.
ple·beian·ly adv.

plebeian [pləˈbiːən]
adj
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) of, relating to, or characteristic of the common people, esp those of Rome
2. lacking refinement; vulgar plebeian tastes
n
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) one of the common people, esp one of the Roman plebs
2. a person who is coarse or lacking in discernment
[from Latin plēbēius belonging to the people, from plēbs the common people of ancient Rome]
plebeianism  n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.plebeian - one of the common people
common people, folk, folks - people in general (often used in the plural); "they're just country folk"; "folks around here drink moonshine"; "the common people determine the group character and preserve its customs from one generation to the next"
common man, common person, commoner - a person who holds no title
anti-intellectual, lowbrow, philistine - a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits
Adj.1.plebeianplebeian - of or associated with the great masses of people; "the common people in those days suffered greatly"; "behavior that branded him as common"; "his square plebeian nose"; "a vulgar and objectionable person"; "the unwashed masses"
lowborn - of humble birth or origins; "a topsy-turvy society of lowborn rich and blue-blooded poor"

plebeian
adjective
1. common, working-class, lower-class, proletarian, ignoble, lowborn a man who rose to greatness but never forgot his plebeian past
common upper-class, aristocratic, high-class, patrician, highborn
2. uncultivated, mean, low, base, coarse, vulgar, unrefined, non-U (Brit. informal) He had a cockney accent and an alarmingly plebeian manner.
uncultivated polished, refined, cultivated, well-bred
noun
commoner, peasant, proletarian, common man, man in the street, pleb, prole (derogatory slang, chiefly Brit.) the history of class struggles, plebeians against patricians
Translations
plebeian [plɪˈbiːən]
A. ADJplebeyo (pej) → ordinario
B. Nplebeyo/a m/f
plebeian
adjplebejisch
nPlebejer(in) m(f)
plebeian [plɪˈbiːən] adj & nplebeo/a
plebeian [plɪˈbiːən] adj & nplebeo/a


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
But when, as in the case of Nicholas the Czar, the ringed crown of geographical empire encircles an imperial brain; then, the plebeian herds crouch abased before the tremendous centralization.
Thither, too, thronged the plebeian classes as freely as their betters, and in larger number.
But as we ascend in the social scale, the process of discriminating and being discriminated by hearing increases in difficulty, partly because voices are assimilated, partly because the faculty of voice-discrimination is a plebeian virtue not much developed among the Aristocracy.
 
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