Word.ws English Dictionary

plebeyan

plebeyan is the obsolete form of plebeian.

Meaning of plebeian

Adjective

plebeian (comparative more plebeian, superlative most plebeian)

  1. (historical) Of or concerning the plebs, the common citizens of ancient Rome.
    • To what purpose be the plebeian Magistrates ordeined?1566, William Painter, The Palace of Pleasure Beautified, Vol. I, Ch. iv, fol. 9 verso
  2. Of or concerning the common people.
    • ...priuate person or plebian multitude...1602, William Watson, A Decacordon of Ten Quodlibeticall Questions, page 301
  3. Common, particularly (derogatory) vulgar, crude, coarse, uncultured.
    • For to plebeyan wits, it is as good,
      As to be silent, as not vnderstood.1615, Robert Armin, The Valiant Welshman, Vol. i, Ch. i, sig. B

See all 5 meanings of plebeian

Forms of plebeyan

Adjective
comparativemore plebeyan
superlativemost plebeyan
Noun
pluralplebeyans

Questions about plebeyan

What is plebeyan the obsolete form of?
Plebeyan is the obsolete form of plebeian.

Words near plebeyan in the dictionary

  1. plebeiate
  2. plebeity
  3. plebes
  4. plebeskin
  5. plebeskins
  6. plebeyan
  7. plebeyans
  8. Plebgate
  9. plebian
  10. plebianism
  11. plebianisms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plebeyan (page history and authors); plebeian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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