proletariate

Noun

proletariat (plural proletariats)

1. (also, derogatory, figuratively, often) The lowest class of society; also, the lower classes of society generally; the masses.

   Synonyms:

   proletary

2. (Marxism) Wage earners collectively; people who own no capital and depend on their labour for survival; the working class, especially when seen as engaged in a class struggle with the bourgeoisie (“the capital-owning class”).
   • Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie to-day, the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class. The other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of modern industry; the proletariat is its special and essential product.1848 February, Karl Marx; Frederick Engels [i.e., Friedrich Engels], “Bourgeois and Proletarians”, in Samuel Moore, transl., Manifesto of the Communist Party. […], 2nd edition, New York, N.Y....

   Synonyms:

   proletarian, proletary, prole

   Antonyms:

   bourgeoisie

3. (Ancient-Rome, historical) The lowest class of citizens, who had no property and few rights, and were regarded as contributing only their offspring to the state.

   Synonyms:

   proletarian, proletary