Pleb

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /plɛb/

Definitions

1. A commoner or member of the lower social classes, often used dismissively to imply lack of sophistication or refinement
2. A person considered to belong to the general population rather than an elite or privileged group
3. An individual regarded as part of the ordinary masses without special status or rank

Etymology: "Pleb" is a clipping, a shortened form of two older words: "plebeian" and "plebe." "Plebeian" comes from Latin "plebeius," the adjective for the "plebs," the common people of ancient Rome as distinct from the patrician aristocracy. "Plebe," meaning a first-year student at a military academy such as West Point or Annapolis, is a slang shortening of the same root, which is how the two words became linked in English usage. The shortened form may also be understood as a back-formation from "plebs," the Latin noun itself, so the word can be read as having been cut down from either direction. Either way, the sense of an ordinary, unprivileged person carries over directly from the Roman distinction between commoners and the elite.

Synonyms: commoner, peasant, proletarian, lower-class, blue-collar

Antonyms: elite, noble, aristocrat, upper-class, gentleman