noun
proletariat
proh-luh-TAIR-ee-uht/prˌoʊlʌtˈɛriʌt/
The working class who earn wages rather than own businesses or capital.
The wage-earning factory workers form part of the proletariat.
Etymology
French prolétariat supplied a collective name for the lowest and poorest class. In political economics, the term became more specific: wage-workers dependent on employment rather than ownership of production.
In context
the importance really of the working class as the potential gravediggers of capitalism the proletariat
More examples
- The party claimed to represent the industrial proletariat.
- His analysis divided society into owners and the proletariat.
- The lecture examined how factory work shaped the proletariat.
Forms
proletariat
Similar words
- bourgeoisie
- In class analysis, the bourgeoisie owns capital while the proletariat depends on selling its labor.
- workforce
- Workforce includes all workers in a setting; proletariat identifies a socioeconomic class.