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Oct 31, 2024
This week’s themeLesser-known counterparts of words This week’s words diachronic consanguinity plebeian
Distributing bread to plebeians
A fresco from Pompeii Image: Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargplebeian
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
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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