plebeian: [16] The plēbs were the ‘common people’ of ancient Rome (the word may connected with Greek pléthos ‘multitude’, a relative of English plethora). English gets plebeian from its derived adjective plēbēius. The connotations of ‘lower-classness’ have been transferred from ancient Rome to the present day, and inspired the derogatory pleb [19]. A plebiscite [16] is etymologically a ‘decree approved by the common people’.
plebeian (n.)
"member of the lowest class," 1530s, from Latin plebius "person not of noble rank," from adjective meaning "of the common people" (see plebeian (adj.)).
plebeian (adj.)
also plebian, "of or characteristic of the lower class," 1560s in a Roman historical sense, from Latin plebeius "belonging to the plebs," earlier plebes, "the populace, the common people" (as opposed to patricians, etc.), also "commonality; the mass, the multitude; the lower class," from PIE *ple- (see pleio-). In general (non-historical) use from 1580s.
双语例句
1. In the 1790s Tom Paine taught plebeian radicals that mankind would live in harmony were it not for the vested interest which princes, diplomats and soldiers had in promoting wars to enrich themselves.