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| pro·le·tar·i·at [ prlə térree ət ] |
noun |
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| Definition: |
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1. working class: the class of wage-earning workers in society
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2. class of industrial wage-earners: in Marxist theory, the class of industrial workers whose only asset is the labor they sell to an employer
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3. ancient Roman social class: a social class of ancient Rome that had the lowest status and possessed no property
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| [Mid-19th century. < French prolétariat< Latin proletarius (see proletarian)] |