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Oct 31, 2024
This week’s theme
Lesser-known counterparts of words

This week’s words
earwitness
diachronic
consanguinity
plebeian

plebeian
Distributing bread to plebeians
A fresco from Pompeii
Image: Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

plebeian

PRONUNCIATION:
(pluh-BEE-uhn)

MEANING:
adjective:1. Belonging to or relating to the common people.
 2. Relating to or characteristic of lower social classes.
 3. Common; vulgar.
noun:1. A commoner.
 2. A member of the lower social class.

NOTES:
In ancient Rome, plebeians or plebs were commoners who held lower social and political status compared to patricians, who were of higher social rank.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin plebeius (of the common people), from plebs (common people). Earliest documented use: 1533.

USAGE:
“Why limit yourself to such plebeian gyrations as running, bicycling, and weightlifting when you have several billion dollars to burn? Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chairman, races his own yachts.”
Revenge of the Nerds; The Economist (London, UK); Aug 13, 2016.

See more usage examples of plebeian in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Fatalism is the lazy man's way of accepting the inevitable. -Natalie Clifford Barney, poet, playwright, and novelist (31 Oct 1876-1972)

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